Playing With Fire!
by Brockster550
Summary: Harry is fed up with being treated like a hero one day and despised the next. Being forced to compete in the Triwizard Tournament became the final straw. Now Harry is done playing the saviour and plans to extract revenge against his enemies. How does Harry plan to accomplish his goal? Read on to find out. Rated T!
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: All I own in this fanfic, J.K. Rowling owns the rest. No copyright intended!_

**_Summary: Harry's placement in the Triwizard Tournament against his will becomes the final straw. Alot of people (including the majority of Gryffindor House) have accused him of being an attention seeker, oblivious that they're just risking pushing Harry's buttons. After letting all the steam out, Harry decides to play with fire and extract revenge (in the form of pranks). Look out Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, and certainly look out Hogwarts! Harry is done playing the saviour and getting next to nothing in return. Nevertheless, a handful of students have decided to side with Harry (even if they have to do so secretly). What will become of Harry and will he finally get the respect he rightfully deserves? Read on to look for answers!_**

**Author's note 1: This will be an eventual Harry/Tracey main pairing, and an eventual Neville/Astoria secondary pairing story. Eventual miscellaneous pairings include Blaise/Luna, Adrian/Daphne and Terence/Susan. Fed-up Harry! The story will start on the morning of the Saturday after the champion selection for the Triwizard Tournament. Greater Good Dumbledore! Bad (later neutral) Ron, Hermione and McGonagall. Very bad Ginny. Naturally bad Snape. Rated T for now, may go up depending on the circumstances. Friendship and Humor mainly, with some eventual romance later on.**

Playing With Fire

Fanfic by Brockster550

**Chapter 1: The Plan**

Harry Potter was sitting on a tree stump by his favourite spot near the shores of the Black Lake. It was a nice Saturday morning, and Harry was angry that he was put in harm's way, yet again. The raven haired teen wizard had been hopeful that, for once he would be out of the spotlight and have a normal year. When his name emerged from the goblet of fire on Halloween, Harry knew that it was, yet another attempt on his life. On his way to the antechamber behind the staff table in the Great Hall, Harry could hear random students calling him a glory hound, attention seeker, cheater, etc… etc. Professor Dumbledore handed the parchment with Harry's name (in 'his' handwriting) on it to him and instructed Harry to continue on into the antechamber.

In the antechamber, Harry was confronted by his headmaster and asked him if he submitted his name. Harry truthfully confirmed it, but he was told that he still had to compete because of a magical binding contract (despite telling everyone that his name wasn't in his handwriting). The other champions (including Cedric Diggory, the true Hogwarts champion) just called him a liar before leaving. The Hufflepuffs were outraged at Harry for 'trying to overshadow one of their high profile members.' The Ravenclaws accused Harry of cheating the age line when the Weasleys twins failed, even with the use of ageing potions. The Slytherins called Harry the teachers' pet and claimed that the 'Gryffindor Golden Boy' had to have it all. But the behaviour of Gryffindor shocked Harry the most because they accused him of dishonouring the name and house. Harry's supposed best friend, Ron Weasley called him an egotistical prick and a filthy liar when he asked Harry how he got past the line. Harry truthfully said that he didn't, which fell on deaf ears since Ron claimed that Harry was just being an attention seeker. Hermione Granger didn't say that she thought of Harry as a cheater, but she never said anything in his defence. Ron's sister, Ginny also never said she thought of Harry as an attention seeker but she, too never spoke up in Harry's defence. So far, the only Gryffindors who assured Harry that they believed him were the Weasley twins, their best friend Lee Jordan, and Neville Longbottom. Unfortunately for Harry, the Gryffindor quidditch chasers Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell angrily told him off for 'looking for more fame and glory.' In other words, the Gryffindor chasers shunned Harry. The morning after the champion selection, a Hufflepuff in Harry's year, Susan Bones also told Harry she believed him. So far, no Slytherins or Ravenclaws said the same, but Harry didn't bother looking for any who _were_ on his side (unaware that six Slytherins and one Ravenclaw were secretly on his side). Harry's godfather, Sirius and honourary uncle, Remus wrote to Harry and assured him that they believed him. Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper also assured Harry that he believed him.

Harry was brought out of his musings when he heard footsteps approach him. Whipping his wand out, Harry turned to the sound of the footsteps and was relieved that it was Neville.

"Sorry, Neville," Harry apologized, putting his wand away. "Just a little jumpy because of the countless number of random students threatening to curse me to Timbuktu!"

"It's all good, Harry," assured Neville. "Just wanted to let you know that you should go to Gringotts as soon as possible. You have some inheritance that Dumbledore should've told you about long ago. Gran told me that he declared himself your magical guardian."

"That's Dumbledore, always meddling with my life," said Harry with contempt in his voice. Then he resumed in a normal voice. "What do you mean by inheritance, Neville?"

"House Potter is one of the seven most ancient and most noble houses," stated Neville, shocking Harry (to the point where it made him jump). "The other six are House Longbottom, House Black, House Greengrass, House Bones, House Zabini and House Delacour!"

"Why are those seven known as most ancient and most noble houses?" asked Harry.

"Well, from what gran told me," Neville started explaining. "It was centuries and centuries ago when those seven houses got together and built the Wizengamot, _and_ the foundation for the International Confederation of Wizards. It was our goal to bring peace throughout the wizarding _and_ the muggle world. Out of the seven, House Potter is the most powerful one, also holding several seats in the Wizengamot."

"And I was kept in the dark about all this?" said Harry irritably. "What are Dumbledore's motives for all that, assuming that he's gonna keep at it?"

"Something he calls the Greater Good," said Neville. "Gran told me that my mum was your godmother and that you should've been placed in my parents' custody if Sirius Black couldn't take you in."

"So you and your gran believe that he's innocent?" asked Harry.

"Yes," said Neville. "We never recalled hearing about his trial, though. He should have received one because he _is_ a member of House Black. It made gran suspicious when she didn't find anything about Sirius getting a trial."

"Sirius never received one in the first place," stated Harry. "Near the end of last year, he revealed that Minister Fudge and Barty Crouch just had him chucked into Azkaban without so much as giving him a trial, despite Sirius being a member of House Black. That was like something called a kangaroo court."

"That's a form of corruption," Neville revealed. "Sirius had his rights violated. Madam Bones is another person who believed Sirius to be innocent, and still does. Dumbledore could've done something about that case of injustice, but he never did anything to resolve it."

"Once I go to Gringotts and get the reading of my parents' will finished, I'll make sure Sirius gets a trial," said Harry. "But I have no known way of getting to Gringotts."

"Do you know a house elf that can help out with that?" asked Neville.

"Yeah," said Harry. "But I have no idea where Dobby could be…"

"Did Harry calls for Dobby?" said the house elf when he appeared with a pop.

"Yes I did, Dobby." said Harry.

"I thought you belonged to the Malfoys." said Neville, recognizing the house elf.

"Dobby used to," Dobby explained. "But Harry Potter tricked bad masters into freeing Dobby froms their servitude a whiles back."

"I see." said Neville with realization.

"Dobby, how did you get here almost immediately after I said your name?" asked Harry.

"From the moments you tricked bad masters into freeing me from theirs' servitude," Dobby revealed. "It created a bond between you and Dobby. So anytime you say Dobby's name, Dobby can hear it and will comes to you instantly."

"Wow, I never knew that," said Harry in a surprised voice. "But, is there a proper way to do the bonding?"

"Of course, Harry Potter," stated Dobby. "Just hold one of my hands and say that you bond with him. Dobby would consider it an honour to be Harry Potter's."

Before Harry could get started, he asked Dobby if Winky (who was Barty Crouch's former house elf) would like to have a new master, Dobby vanished to get her. Almost immediately, Dobby came back with Winky (who was still upset at having been set free).

"Hey Winky," said Harry. "Would you like to bond with me?"

"Really?" asked Winky ecstatically. "Harry Potter wishes to be Winky's new master?"

"Of course!" said Harry enthusiastically, smiling at the female house elf.

Winky was all happy to be getting a new master. Dobby opted to have Winky do the bond first (figuring out that Harry was adamant on the ladies first policy). Once that was done, then Harry did the bond with Dobby. Once that was done, Harry instructed Dobby and Winky to escort himself and Neville respectively to the Leaky Cauldron, then Harry instructed his house elves to go back to Hogwarts and keep an eye on anything suspicious.

"Harry, why'd you have me tag along?" asked Neville.

"Well," said Harry. "Since you've given me alot of information, I want to return the favour. Maybe purchase you a new wand or something. It'll help increase your confidence."

"How did you find that out?!" asked Neville, flabbergasted.

"A hunch," stated Harry. "Mr. Ollivander told me that the wand chooses the wizard, the day I first purchased mine. When you fell off that broomstick during flying lessons first year was when I figured that the wand you've been using was interfering with your confidence, which to me explained why the broom acted the way it did when you were on it."

"Oh, yeah," said Neville sheepishly. "Gran wanted me to live up to my dad's standards, so she gave me his wand, believing it would be in his honour."

"I can write to her and explain about the nature of wands," offered Harry. "I'm sure she'll understand."

"Yeah," said Neville. "Hopefully she won't get mad."

So the two Gryffindors started heading to Gringotts. Once they walked in through the front entrance, a familiar goblin spotted Harry.

"Ah, Lord Potter," said the goblin. "We've been expecting you."

"It's good to see you again, Griphook," Harry greeted, giving Griphook a polite bow. "You were the one who escorted me to my vault."

"You remembered," said Griphook ecstatically. "Not many wizards or witches acknowledge us goblins!"

"I wanted to set a good example," said Harry. "After all, respect is earned, not given. And Neville is among those who has earned my respect."

"The future Lord Longbottom," said Griphook as Neville gave him a polite bow. Then the goblin turned his attention back to Harry. "Ragnok has been sending you letters that mention your inheritance, Lord Potter."

"I never did get any mail from Gringotts," said Harry. "I only found out a while ago because Neville was the one who informed me. Would you please just call me Harry?"

"Of course, as long as you call me Griphook," said the goblin, with Harry nodding his head in understanding to prove it. "We'd better get to Ragnok's office as soon as possible."

"Is it alright if Neville tags along?" asked Harry.

"Of course." said Griphook.

So he escorted Harry and Neville over to Ragnok's office. The eventually reached a door that had a frosted glass window with the words, '_Ragnok, director of Gringotts London_,' printed across it. Then Griphook knocked on the door.

"Come in!" called a voice from the other side.

Then Griphook showed Harry and Neville inside, then he came in and closed the door. Ragnok saw that Harry was one of the visitors.

"Lord Potter," Ragnok greeted Harry. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Likewise," Harry greeted back. "Would you just call me Harry, please?"

"Yes, as long as you call me Ragnok," said the director of Gringotts. "Now, I was wondering why it took you so long to answer the notification letters."

"I honestly didn't get any mail from Gringotts," Harry clarified. "Neville was the one who informed me of my inheritance and how House Potter is one of the seven most ancient and most noble houses."

"Hmm," Ragnok replied suspiciously. "Looks like Albus Dumbledore declared himself as your magical guardian. We'd better get your parents' will, Harry."

So Griphook left the office to get Harry's parents' will. A few minutes later, he returned with the parchment containing the will. After Griphook set the parchment (which was wax sealed) in front of Harry, Ragnok handed a silver dagger to him.

"You'll need to slice your palm with this, Harry," Ragnok explained. "That way you can allow seven drops of your blood to hit the wax and dissolve it. Don't worry, the wound will automatically heal once that's done."

Harry nodded his head in understanding and did as instructed. Once the seven drops of Harry's blood hit the wax seal, it dissolved. Then Harry unfolded the parchment that contained his parents' will and it said:

_The last will and testament of Lily J. Potter (nee Evans) and James Charlus Potter:_

_To our son, Harry, if you're reading this will, then you father and I are dead. We're sorry and we love with all our hearts. We leave you the Potter family vault consisting of 400 million galleons, the Potter family ring with heirloom powers, some family heirlooms that will be granted to you once you finished reading the will. You will be granted access to Potter Manor once you turn fifteen (the minimum age of emancipation for the head of a most ancient and most noble house). Being the head of a most ancient and most noble house will also grant you exemption from the restriction of underage magic. We leave you a list of potential guardians if something should happen to us, in the order that follows:_

_#1. Sirius Orion Black (James' best friend and Harry's godfather)_

_#2. Frank and Alice Longbottom (friends of the family, with Alice being Harry's godmother)_

_#3. Amelia Bones (friend of the family)_

_#4. Minerva McGonagall (James' godmother)_

_#5. Dennis and Alexis Greengrass (friends of the family)_

_#6. Ted and Andromeda Tonks (friends of the family)_

_Under no, and we certainly mean __NO__ circumstances is Harry ever to be placed with Petunia Dursley (nee Evans) and her husband. They're much worse than the average muggle because they hate magic beyond belief. They will just abuse and neglect Harry as much as they will spoil and dote on their son, Dudley. So for Harry's sake, keep him as far away from the Dursleys as possible._

_There's also another piece of parchment that lists Harry's magical blocks if any get placed on him. It will require a blood signature to open._

_One more thing for Harry and/or his guardians, Sirius Black wasn't the secret keeper, it was Peter Pettigrew._

_We love you, Harry_

_Love,_

_Mum and dad_

_Signed,_

_October 15, 1981_

_Witnesses signed,_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_November 1, 1981_

Harry felt a tear shedding as he read the will, realizing how much his parents really loved him. This made Harry hate the Dursleys even more than ever for their abusive treatment. In fact, Harry began hating Dumbledore for keeping him in the dark about all this and at the same time, Harry started respecting Neville more and more for informing him of it all. Harry saw two more folded up pieces of parchment, which surprised him.

"Uh, Ragnok," said Harry. "I see two more pieces of parchment fold up."

"Huh," said Ragnok. "Better check what the second one is."

So he ran a scan over the second parchment and raised an eyebrow when he realized what the second parchment was.

"Harry," Ragnok informed. "This happens to be a marriage contract. The spell revealed it to have been placed in your family vault around the middle of September in 1991. It was originally for Mr. Draco Malfoy to marry Miss Astoria Greengrass, effective as of the Malfoy scion's eighteenth birthday. I was wondering what you must've done for that to have happened."

"I don't know what I did," said Harry, baffled. "But I am surprised and curious as to how it ended up in my family vault."

"Did you accept any duels or something with the Malfoy scion?" asked Ragnok.

"As a matter of fact," said Harry, as something in his brain clicked. "Draco actually challenged me to a midnight duel that time, but all he really did was tell Mr. Filch the caretaker about students being in the trophy room that night. Neville was accompanying me, along with Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger."

"That must mean that young Draco sacrificed the contract to you," Ragnok realized. "Since he didn't have any real intentions to duel with you."

"Well, I'm not sure what to do with it now." said Harry.

Neville was blushing when he found out about the marriage contract ending up in the Potter vault. Harry noticed that and realized that Neville may have a crush on this Astoria Greengrass. He decided to wait until after he got his magical blocks removed before asking Neville, so Harry pocketed the contract in his pocket. Then he picked up the other folded up parchment, with Ragnok handing some kind of inkless quill to him.

"This is a blood quill, Harry," said Ragnok. "The parchment that lists your magical blocks requires a blood signature for it be opened. You'll feel some pain on the back of your hand when you write with the quill."

Harry nodded his head to show that he understood. Then he began signing his signature on the line where the signature had to be. Harry did feel pain on the back of his hand as he did so. Once the signature was taken care of, Harry unfolded the parchment that listed his magical blocks, which said:

**Name: Harry James Potter**

**DOB: 7-31-80**

**Mother: Lily J. Potter (nee Evans)**

**Father: James Charlus Potter**

**Magical core 95% blocked. Natural abilities in Occlumency, wandless magic, healing abilities, defence magic, transfiguration, potions skills and charms.**

Harry was shocked to learn of the all the abilities he had. Once he got over the shock, Harry pocketed his parents' will (knowing it was going to be needed in order to ensure that Sirius gets his trial). Then Ragnok got up and asked Harry and Neville to follow him to the magical block removal room. Neville had to wait outside and once Harry was in the room. Harry was instructed to lay down on a table in the middle of the room. Before doing so, Harry took his glasses off and placed them on a nearby stand. Then he got up onto the table, where he was given some sleeping draught. Once he fell into a dreamless sleep, the magical block removal team got to work to remove the blocks. While waiting outside the room, Neville felt some excitement flowing through him. He couldn't believe Draco was foolish enough to back out of that midnight duel, just to get Harry in trouble.

'I don't know what to say to Tori,' thought Neville. 'I've always wanted to talk to her before, but the ferret interfered with that, all thanks or anti-thanks to his father, Malfoy Sr. I remember Tori giving me that very smile, the one that would make my heart beat with excitement. It's not just her bubbly personality I admire, but she always had a cute smile and I just wish to see it again!'

_To be continued!_

**Author's note 2: If any of you have some prank suggestions in mind, don't hesitate to let me know! But any of your suggestions won't be seen until chapter 7 at least, since I always aim to finish the first 6 chapters of any of my stories before I worry about posting the first chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: As usual, I only own this story. J.K. Rowling owns the rest of the Harry Potter universe. No copyright intended!_

**Chapter 2: The New And Improved Harry**

An hour or so later, Harry finally came to and felt better than ever. Harry reached for his glasses and put them on, only to find that everything was all blurry, but it was all crystal clear when he took them off. When he got up, Harry was handed a vial with something dark moving around inside of it. The head of the block removing team explained that it was a soul fragment of Lord Voldemort's that had latched onto Harry the night he got the scar. Harry was told that the soul fragment caused most of the blockage (which had to be removed first before the blocks, to prevent the fragment from interfering and risking further damage to Harry), while Albus Dumbledore added some himself. Harry politely took the vial and pocketed it, realizing that the DMLE would need to be notified of it. Now that the reading of his parents' will was taken care of, Harry decided that he wasn't going to return to the Dursleys ever again. He was going to make sure Sirius finally gets the trial he never received. Upon spotting Harry walking out of the magical block removal room, Neville's eyes widened in surprise to see Harry much taller (at a height of 6'3" compared to Neville's height of 6'1"), and also having bulked up in muscle.

"Wow, Harry!" Neville responded with surprise in his voice.

"Are you ready to go down to your family vault, Harry?" asked Griphook.

"I'm ready, Griphook!" stated Harry.

"I'll wait in the lobby, Harry." assured Neville.

"Thanks, Neville," said Harry gratefully. "I'll try to be quick."

So Neville went to find a seat in the lobby while Griphook showed Harry the way to the Potter vault. Harry was shocked when Griphook told him that vault #687 was his trust vault. Harry was instructed to put his hand on a device next to the vault door, so the security measures could detect Harry to make sure he wasn't an imposter. Harry was cleared to enter his family vault and saw heaps of bronze knuts, silver sickles and gold galleons. There were even piles of different gems like rubies, emeralds, sapphires and even diamonds. He spotted the family ring that would let people know who was the head of House Potter. Once he put the ring on, Harry could feel some warmth flow as it now accepted Harry as the new head of House Potter. Harry asked Griphook if he could make a copy of his parents' will, which he assured would happen. Harry filled up three bags filled with three thousand galleons each and gave one of them to Griphook, while he carried the other two.

"I thought I'd give you and Ragnok three thousand galleons each," said Harry. "As a way of saying thank you for also giving me the information that was concealed from me."

"Thank you Harry, Ragnok and I will appreciate this!" said Griphook, politely taking the bag from Harry.

Harry and Griphook left the vault. Upon returning to the lobby, Ragnok handed Harry some kind of gold card.

"This card is linked to your family vault, Harry," stated Ragnok. "It works like a debit/credit card that are used in the muggle world. This card can be used anywhere, including the muggle world."

"Now that'll be helpful," said Harry as he politely took the card and put it in his pocket, handing Ragnok one of the other bags of galleons. "I thought this gift would be a more proper way to thank you for your help, Ragnok."

"Thank you, Harry," said Ragnok as he politely took the bag from Harry. "The next time Albus Too-Many-Names Dumbledore comes back here, I'll be sure to give him a piece of my mind."

"That'll be the day!" said Harry with glee, then he gave Ragnok and Griphook polite bows. "Thank you again, may the gold keep on flowing!"

"May your enemies fall before you!" said Ragnok and Griphook in unison, bowing back.

Before leaving, Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket to try and shrink the third bag of gold galleons to pocket size. It didn't do anything, so Neville offered to do it for Harry. This had mixed results for while the bag shrank to pocket size, it's colour changed from light gray to green. Harry was fine with it since the bag still shrunk to fit in his pocket, but he knew that a trip to Ollivanders was now vital.

"We'd better go to Ollivanders," Harry reminded. "So I can purchase a new wand. It's time you get a wand best suited for you, Neville."

"Well, okay," said Neville. "But you don't have to do that, Harry."

"But I'm choosing to do so anyway," said Harry. "I want to return the favour because of the information you gave me about my inheritance and all that. If you have a wand that chooses you, I feel that it'll help boost your confidence."

Neville smiled at the revelation, so he and Harry started walking to Ollivanders after their business at Gringotts was taken care of. On the way, Harry turned to Neville again.

"So Neville," said Harry. "Do you have a crush on this Astoria? I couldn't help but notice your blushing after Ragnok revealed that the marriage contract now belongs to me!"

"Well, yeah," Neville admitted. "But I always got nervous and found myself unable to approach and talk to her. The smile she has is just… so cute, and it makes my heart skip a beat in excitement. She happens to have a bubbly personality as well. She often goes by Tori, since her given name sounds like a mouthful to say."

"You sure have a crush on her for the right reasons, Neville," stated Harry. "Personality should always come first, but idiots like Malfoy only want her for her looks and family's wealth. The ferret especially wanted her for that. It's like no matter how much money they have, the Malfoys always try to find ways of getting wealthier and wealthier. They ignore the fact that there are things more important than money."

Harry and Neville had to stop the discussion because they were quickly approaching Ollivanders. When they walked in, Mr. Ollivander looked up from his paperwork.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, Mr. Longbottom," greeted the wand maker. "How are you two doing?"

"Doing good, sir," said Harry. "Neville and I need new wands. I just finished the reading of my parents' will at Gringotts and before I had my magical blocks removed, my wand worked fine. But it no longer does because my scar had a soul fragment of Voldemort's behind it and it had been removed, too."

"So that was why that wand initially chose you," Mr. Ollivander deduced, flabbergasted. "This is the first time I've heard of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named having a soul fragment! Well Lord Potter, I must find you a new wand that will choose the new you."

"You go first, Harry," said Neville. "I need a little more time to prepare for this."

"Alright." said Harry.

So he approached the counter and sat his old wand on it. Harry tried several wands, but none of them chose him. Then Mr. Ollivander reached for a silver-coloured box, pulled it off the shelf and brought it back to the counter. Then he opened the box and pulled out a wand that was gold in colour, and the handle was dark brown in colour (with red rubies embedded into it).

"Not many can wield this kind of wand, Lord Potter," Mr. Ollivander explained. "It's core is a sliver of bone that came from the skull of a hungarian horntail, the fiercest dragon in the wizarding world."

Harry stared at the wand in utter amazement. Mr. Ollivander handed the wand to Harry and once he grasped the handle, he felt some flow of warmth throughout his body. Neville tried three wands before one chose him, a silver one that had diamonds embedded into it's silver handle and the core being a dragon heartstring. As soon as Neville grasped the handle, he felt some flow of warmth throughout his body. After paying for the wands, Harry and Neville decided to go to the Ministry Of Magic, so Harry called for Dobby and Winky to apparate himself and Neville to the ministry lobby. After doing their errand, the house elves disapparated.

"Neville, where exactly is the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?" asked Harry.

"Hello, Neville," greeted a witch with bubble gum pink hair. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Tonks," Neville greeted her back. "Harry and I were just looking for Madam Bones office."

"Harry Potter, nice to meet you," said the witch named (or went by) Tonks, holding a hand out at Harry. "I'm Nymphadora Tonks, but don't call me by my first name unless you wish to get hexed."

"Nice to meet you too, Tonks," said Harry as he shook her hand. "If you don't mind me asking, did you ever think of going by 'Dora' instead?"

"I think I can deal with that," said Tonks, after thinking it over for a minute. "Not really a mouthful to say. So what brings you and Neville here to the ministry?"

"Well," Harry started explaining. "I just recently went to Gringotts with Neville accompanying me. He told me that I had some inheritance that I should've been told about. It turns out that Professor Dumb-As-Door has been keeping me in the dark about all that. Not only that, but I need to make sure Madam Bones sees my will, so as to ensure that Sirius Black gets the trial that he was denied."

"I see," said Dora, getting suspicious. "I never believed that he was guilty of all that. He's my cousin, so I'll help out with that. Follow me, I'll show you the way to Amelia's office."

So she started showing Harry and Neville the way to Amelia's office. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement happened to be located on the second floor (as shown on a map nearby an elevator). They reached a door that said, _'Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE'_ across it. Then Dora knocked on it and awaited an answer.

"Come in!" called a voice from the other side of the door.

So Dora opened the door and showed Harry and Neville inside. Harry saw a woman in black ministry robes (and wearing a monocle over one eye) sitting at the desk. Amelia looked up and saw Neville and the boy who she believed to be Harry Potter walking in and taking a seat.

"Harry and Neville to see you, Amelia." said Dora.

"Thank you, Tonks." said Amelia. Once Dora closed the door and left, Amelia turned her attention to Harry and Neville. "What may I do for you two?"

"I recently read my parents' will, ma'am," said Harry, pulling the copy of the will out of his pocket and showing Amelia. "With Dumbledore the only witness to sign it. He's been keeping me in the dark about my inheritance. I only found out about it because Neville was the one who told me."

"I see," said Amelia, looking over the will. "So you've been living with the Dursleys this whole time, Harry?"

"Yes ma'am," said Harry. "As the will predicted, the Dursleys really abused me. Dumbledore claimed that they weren't that bad and continued to send me back there every summer, despite my complaints."

"Looks like Albus is guilty of child endangerment," stated Amelia. "I never heard about Sirius getting a trial."

"He told me that near the end of last year," said Harry. "How he was chucked into Azkaban kangaroo court style."

"We'll get Sirius a trial as soon as possible, Harry," assured Amelia. "But I don't know how long it could take, Harry. It could be around Christmas time for all we know when he finally gets cleared."

"Yes ma'am," said Harry. "I understand."

"I'll do the best I can," said Amelia. "No formalities please."

"I'm sorry, Amelia," Harry apologized. "Just been a force of habit."

"I understand," assured Amelia. "Has Susan been treating you decently, Harry?"

"Yes she has," said Harry. "She even told me herself that she believed that I never submitted my name for the Triwizard Tournament."

"That's good," said Amelia. "House Potter and House Bones have had this alliance for like the last three centuries. I would've been mad at her if she treated you terribly, particularly if it was enough to make you break the alliance."

"Don't worry, Amelia," assured Harry. "Susan hasn't done anything to anger me. Some of her fellow Hufflepuffs have tried to pressure her into joining in on the attempts of hexing me for my supposed attempt to overshadow Cedric."

"It even got to the point where Susan would just run and hide at the first opportunity." said Neville.

"I'm proud of her for doing the right thing." said Amelia.

"This happened to be behind my scar," Harry informed, pulling the vial with the soul fragment out of his pocket and handing it Amelia. "The head of the magical block removal team stated that that was a soul fragment of Voldemort's."

"The unspeakables will need to see this," stated Amelia, politely taking the vial from Harry. "If they research this, then they can get some leads as to how Voldemort created these and possibly the number."

After giving Amelia the copy of the will and the vial with the soul fragment, Harry and Neville bade her goodbye and good luck. Now the next thing they needed done was to find Lord Dennis Greengrass and inform him of Draco's foolishness in backing out of the midnight duel. Lord Greengrass happened to be talking to a red haired man who Harry doubtlessly recognized as Arthur Weasley.

"Hello, Mr. Weasley." said Harry.

"Oh, hi Harry," said Arthur, after doing a double take. "I didn't expect you to leave the school so soon."

"I was taking care of some business at Gringotts," said Harry. "As it turned out, Dumbledore has been keeping me in the dark about my inheritance. Neville was the one who informed me of it."

"I see," said Arthur. "Not that I have anything against Neville, but why didn't Ron tell you about your inheritance at least? Molly and I did tell him to do so after you and him became friends."

"Ron and I aren't friends anymore," Harry informed Arthur. "He called me a liar and an egotistical prick after I told him that I never submitted. Despite assuring him that I didn't want to be in that wretched tournament, Ron just called me an attention seeker."

"It's true, Mr. Weasley," Neville spoke up. "Ron also made sneering faces behind Harry's back several times."

"How could Ron do that?!" said Arthur, outraged.

"Well, I have seen it myself how much he's jealous of my fame," said Harry. "But everytime I try to tell him that I don't enjoy it, he just interrupts me and just tells me that it isn't a big deal."

"Thank you for telling about this, Harry," said Arthur. "I never expected his jealousy to be this bad. As soon as I'm done here with my discussion here with Dennis, I'll inform Molly of Ron's irrational behaviour."

"Hello, Harry," said Lord Greengrass, holding a hand out at him. "I'm Lord Dennis Greengrass."

"Nice to meet you, sir," said Harry as he shook Dennis' hand. "Neville and I were looking for you."

"Really, what for?" asked Dennis.

"This ended up in my family vault," said Harry, pulling the marriage contract between Draco and Astoria out and handing it to the Greengrass patriarch. "It was because Draco 'challenged' me to a midnight duel a couple weeks into our first year. Neville, Ron and Hermione were accompanying me that night. We realized that Draco backed out because he informed Filch that there would be students in the trophy room at midnight. Filch was looking around for us, but he never spotted us."

"Draco really did that?!" said Dennis in utter surprise. "Lucius won't be too happy with his son for doing something like this. Are you giving the contract back?"

"Yes," said Harry, as Neville blushed again. "I feel that Neville deserves Astoria more."

"I understand," assured Dennis. "I'd better go inform Lucius of his son's foolish antics."

So Dennis walked away to go find Lucius and give him the heads up of what Draco did. Then Arthur turned to Harry again.

"What were Fred, George and Ginny's reactions to your name being placed in the goblet of fire?" asked Arthur.

"Fred and George stayed by my side," said Harry. "As did their best friend, Lee. Ginny, on the other hand is just a little below neutral. That's because she keeps giving me this look that annoys me, especially when she keeps blushing madly anytime I'm around. While she hasn't said that she thought of me being an attention seeker, she never spoke up in my defence, which is just as bad as believing me to be an egomaniac."

"Molly and I may be partly at fault for her obsession over you, Harry," said Arthur in a sheepish tone of voice. "We would often tell Ginny stories of where you'd come to her rescue, those were nights where she was restless. But it wasn't our intentions to make her think that you'd be her's eventually. She must've started believing that on her own will."

"I don't blame you or Mrs. Weasley in the slightest," assured Harry. "But Ginny _does_ need to understand that the real me is different from the Boy-Who-Lived."

"Yes, I agree," said Arthur. "If her behaviour gets out of hand, don't hesitate to let me and/or Molly know."

"Okay," said Harry. "Neville and I better return to Hogwarts."

"Alright, take care you two." said Arthur.

"Will do." said Harry and Neville in unison.

Once Harry and Neville found a safe place, they called for Dobby and Winky. Then the house elves apparated the two fourth year Gryffindors back to Hogwarts.

"Harry Potter," said Dobby. "Yours family manor has two more house elves. Want Dobby to go informs them of yours parents' will having beens read?"

"In a minute, Dobby," said Harry. "Neville and I need to find Astoria Greengrass."

"Okay, just call for Dobby and/or Winky when you're ready." said Dobby.

So he and Winky apparated away, while Harry and Neville wandered the school grounds to look for Tori. As Harry and Neville reached the front entrance of the castle, they found a blonde haired girl whose robes had green trimmings on them (while wearing everyday muggle clothes underneath). The way she kept watch over the entrance must've meant that she was trying to stay hidden behind some bushes. Neville knew that was Tori, so he and Harry looked around to make sure no one else was around (especially Draco). Once they were certain of it, they began walking toward the youngest Greengrass girl.

"Hey Tori!" Harry and Neville called out.

Tori jumped in surprise and turned around, tensing up a little until she realized that it wasn't Draco who called out to her. Upon seeing Harry and Neville approaching her, Tori began blushing and smiling when she looked into Neville's eyes. Neville also blushed again when Tori gave him direct eye contact.

"Hi Neville," Tori greeted in a high voice. "H-H-How are yoouuuuu!"

"B-Better now." Neville responded. "Y-Y-Yooouuuu?!"

"Just trying to make sure the ferret isn't close by," said Tori. "He wouldn't stop his near constant 'reminders' about that wretched marriage contract."

"Hi Tori!" Harry greeted.

"Hi Harry!" Tori greeted back. "I believe that you're innocent of that whole fiasco."

"Thanks, Tori," said Harry, smiling. "I happen to have some good news for you."

"Really?! What kind of good news?" asked Tori eagerly.

"The ferret sacrificed that marriage contract to me." Harry revealed.

"Are you serious?" asked Tori.

"Yes," said Harry. "He called up a midnight duel with me in our first year. Neville, Weasley and Granger were accompanying me that night, but the ferret never showed up. Instead, he just told Filch about students being in the trophy room. That marriage contract ended up in my family vault because of Malfoy's foolish, but fortunate antics. It surprised me to learn that marriage contracts could be sacrificed to somebody else."

"The one thing the ferret was idiotic enough to do," said Tori with a smirk. "What did you do with the contract?"

"I gave it back to your dad," said Harry. "I figured that he could do something to prevent idiots like Malfoy from pulling a similar stunt like that again. Maybe he'll talk with Neville's gran over that."

"I'd rather be with Neville than with the likes of the ferret!" said Tori, without realizing what her words were.

As soon as she said that, she and Neville began blushing harder than ever. Harry, Neville and Tori found themselves laughing like crazy (with tears flowing out of their eyes). Once they settled down, Harry got up onto his feet (figuring out that Neville and Tori may need some time to themselves).

"Harry, do you think ole Luci might send the ferret a howler?" asked Tori.

"I believe so," said Harry. "But the ferret will soon realize that there's no going back."

"Yeah," said Tori. "How excited was daddy when you told him about the ferret's foolishness and gave him the contract back?"

"He was relieved, and excited, too," stated Harry. "It was more than enough for me to figure out that he didn't want to set that contract up."

"Yeah, daddy and I believed ole Luci was bluffing about the contract being a repayment debt," said Tori. "But we couldn't just accuse the Malfoy patriarch of lying because there wasn't any proof that he was lying."

"Well, that's something you no longer have to worry about," said Harry. "If the ferret continues to antagonize you, don't hesitate to let me know."

"Okay," said Tori with a smile. "I should be fine, but if he gets too violent or adamant, then I'll tell you."

"Alright," said Harry. "I'll let you and Neville have some time to yourselves."

"You don't have to leave, Harry." said Tori.

"I know, but I gotta give Fred, George and Lee some money," said Harry. "It's an investment for the joke shop they wanna open someday."

"Oh okay," said Tori. "Well see ya later, Harry."

"Alright," said Harry to Tori and Neville. "See ya later."

"See ya, Harry." said Neville.

So Harry turned around and went off to look for Fred, George and Lee. Neville and Tori started wondering which girl would end up with Harry. They also realized that alot of them wouldn't get the chance (especially Ginny), since Harry was bound to see them as the majority of magical England who believed articles written by certain Daily Prophet journalists. Neville and Tori decided to put that out of their minds and take a walk around the Black Lake. On his way to find the Weasley twins and their best friend, Harry was secretly planning pranks in retaliation for being called an attention seeker, cheater, etc… etc. The first victim would be Professor Snape for docking points for even the most minor infractions and worst of all, refusing to look past the scar and resemblance of his father, _and_ actually see the _real_ Harry. Ron was the second victim for his irrational jealousy issues. Professor McGonagall would be the third for ignoring his complaints and not doing her job as deputy headmistress the way she should. Harry also decided to plan a prank against Fleur Delacour the Beauxbatons champion, since she called him a little boy in spite of being a member of the most ancient and most noble house of Delacour.

'Maybe my house elves can help out with that.' thought Harry. 'I can't let anybody know that I'll be the mastermind behind these pranks. But I'll make sure those who are on my side be spared. No more playing the saviour for me! I've had enough being treated like a hero one day and despised the next.'

Harry knew that the first thing he needed was a secret room, where he and the house elves could work out the different kinds of pranks. Harry also decided that Professor Dumbledore should be a victim too, since he ignored Harry's complaints of the Dursleys' abusive treatment and continued sending him back there. Malfoy and his goons were also going to get pranked for their arrogance and self pride attitude by thinking pure bloods were better than everyone else.

'Watch out everybody!' thought Harry with determination. 'Brace yourselves because you've pushed my buttons for the last… _time_!'

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: Again, prank suggestions are greatly appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: As usual, I just own this fanfic. The rest of the Harry Potter world belongs to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 3: Taking The Marauder Approach**

Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower and saw Fred, George and Lee sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace. The three pranksters were planning some pranks themselves, without realizing that Harry walked in.

"Hey y'all!" Harry greeted the pranksters.

"Wow, Harry," said the twins, and Lee in surprise. "You look different, but better at the same time!"

"And your scar looks almost 100% invisible," said Lee. "What happened?"

"I went to Gringotts for my inheritance and the reading of my parents' will." stated Harry. Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out the shrunk bag of money returned it to normal size and gave it to the pranksters. "This is for you, 3000 galleons."

"3000 galleons?!" said Fred, George and Lee, flabbergasted.

"To invest in the joke shop you three always wanted," said Harry. "You don't have to pay it back. For me, it's like buying a pair of shoes."

"How do w-we thank you, Harry?" asked the pranksters, flabbergasted.

"Don't worry about that!" assured Harry. Then he lowered his voice to where only the four of them could hear it. "I also purchased a new wand for myself and Neville, since Neville provided all the information Dumbledork kept from me. My scar had a soul fragment behind it and after it was removed along with the other magical blocks, that's when I purchased a new wand for myself since my old one no longer worked for me."

"Wow," said the three pranksters, utterly surprised (making sure to keep their voices low, just in case there were eavesdroppers nearby). "No wonder your old wand initially worked for you! Th-The i-i-i-investm-m-m-ment m-m-money you g-g-gave us wi-ill h-help us more than ever!"

"So get inventing," said Harry in an encouraging voice. "Some more advice, I once heard rumours about you three sneaking into the school kitchens from time to time. Is that true?"

"Yes," said the pranksters in unison. "The house elves there were kind to us."

"That's good," said Harry. "If you do go there again and some of the house elves express a wish to be bonded, I encourage you to bond with them. It keeps their magical strength up and running to it's fullest and some of them may even wanna help you out with the joke shop."

"Wow, thanks for the advice, Harry!" said the pranksters gratefully. "Just don't let Hermione hear that, otherwise she'll go ballistic."

"Well, she'll need to realize that house elves need bonding," said Harry. "If they get set free, they'll eventually lose their magical strength and succumb to that."

"That's a good point, Harry." agreed the pranksters.

So Harry left Gryffindor Tower to find a room where he could go to for prank planning. He spent fifteen minutes searching for one without any luck, and that was when he felt that it needed to be one that hardly anybody knew about.

"Dobby!" Harry called.

"Yes, Harry Potter!" said Dobby once he appeared with a pop.

"Do you know of a secret room anywhere close by?" asked Harry.

"Yes, Dobby knows of one," said the house elf. "Dobby can takes you there."

"Okay." said Harry.

So he grabbed Dobby's hand and the house elf apparated both of them to the outside of a supposed stone wall. Harry looked at the house elf in confusion.

"This is the entrance to the Room of Requirement," Dobby revealed. "Also known as the Come and Go Room. Since this is your first visit, it won't be open to anybody who isn't awares of it."

"I see," said Harry in understanding. "Since we're in private, would you go inform the house elves at Potter Manor that I've read my parents' will and then instruct them to come here to the Room of Requirement?"

"Yes, Harry Potter," said Dobby. "Dobby will gets that done."

So Dobby went to get his errand taken care of. Once Dobby returned with the two house elves, Harry called for Winky. The house elves who belonged to Harry and his parents were a male and a female.

"Oreo is happy to see master," said the Potters' male house elf ecstatically, hugging Harry. "Mistress Lily, your mum was the one to gives Oreo his name!"

"And Piper is so glad that master is still alive," said the Potter's female house elf joyfully, also giving Harry a hug. "Oreo and I's were worried that yous been killed, but master Harry is still heres!"

"I'm still here," Harry told Oreo and Piper. "Are you both okay with Dobby and Winky joining us?"

"Yes we are, Harry," assured Oreo and Piper. "More helps is better for us!"

"Okay," said Harry. "I need to find a way of disrupting the Triwizard Tournament, in the form of pranks. Maybe not resulting in it being cancelled, but certainly interfering with it."

"Yes, Harry Potter continues to be treated like hippogriff manure by the peoples of the wizarding world," Dobby and Winky informed Oreo and Piper. "He's gotten fed up withs it, so he wants to teach thems a lesson, especially certain ones who've been givings Harry the worst of all's. We've gone around the castle while invisible, listening to the gossips about Harry Potter. Which didn't impress either of us."

"Yes," said Harry. "Even though I've been treating everybody with respect, the majority of the wizarding world has been poorly repaying me by only worshipping me one day and loathing me the next. Hardly any of the teachers helped me when I informed them of what all has been going on. Snivellus bullies all non Slytherins while McGonagall just ignores my complaints, claiming that I deserved punishment without investigating. Dumbledork also seems to condone the bullying, calling muggleborns that wretched name, and sending me back to the Dursleys despite their abusive treatment towards me."

"You deserves better than thats, Harry," said Oreo and Piper, giving their master another hug. "When would you likes us four house elves to start the pranking?"

"I'm not too sure yet," stated Harry. "I need to think on all that, looooong and hard! I prolly should wait for a little while, to ensure that my enemies are thrown off track. But I may come up with suggestions quicker if anybody causes me _any_ trouble!"

"Of course, Harry," said the house elves in unison. "If you'd like us to help with the pranks, just let us know."

"I will," assured Harry. "Perhaps that'd be a good idea, just so people won't find out that I'm the mastermind, at least not as easily. The teachers can accuse me all they want, but they can't punish me without any real proof."

"Yes, we's understand that's," said the house elves. "What shall we's do in the meantime?"

"Maybe see if any elves in the school kitchens need help," Harry instructed. "And if I return to the Room of Requirement, I'll call for you if any prank ideas come up."

"Of course, Harry Potter." the house elves chorused.

So Dobby, Winky, Oreo and Piper disappeared and reported to the school kitchens. As Harry left the Come and Go Room, he decided to avoid Fred, George and Lee while thinking of the pranks, just to avoid the risk of being tempted into taking credit for their ideas. When Harry strolled by the courtyard, he spotted Neville and Tori in conversation (and they were also holding hands). Neville's confidence appeared to be getting better now, which made Harry grin.

"Good job, Neville." said Harry under his breath, directed at his friend and godbrother.

So he walked away, not wanting to disturb Neville and Tori. Harry also spotted Ron, Hermione and Ginny trying to recruit students into joining some kind of organization. Then he walked away before any of them could spot him. All too soon, lunchtime arrived and all the students and faculty (including the foreign ones) reported to the Great Hall. Harry sat down at the end of Gryffindor's table closest to the doors, where he was joined by Neville and Tori. Many of the Gryffindors were surprised to see a Slytherin taking a seat at their table.

"Don't worry, Harry," assured Neville. "We only have to sit at our house tables for feasts or other special occasion."

"It's stated in the rulebook," said Tori. "Neville and I _did_ spot you close by the courtyard earlier."

"The only reason I didn't join you that time was because I didn't wanna disturb you two," said Harry. "You both looked like you were in your own private world."

"You're no bother to us, Harry." assured Tori.

"Yeah, Harry, your company is always welcome with us." stated Neville.

"Thanks, guys," said Harry gratefully. "It's still taking some getting used to with finally having real friends. The Weasley twins and their best friend have proven to be my real friends, too."

"Potter," said the voice of Draco Malfoy as he approached the three (with Pansy Parkinson accompanying him), making Neville and Tori turn around while Harry looked up. "What are you and Longbottom doing hanging around with my girl?"

"Your girl is right there, Malfoy," said Harry as he pointed a finger at Pansy. "Everybody knows that you and Parkinson are destined for each other."

Laughter broke out when Harry said that. Draco and Pansy turned red in embarrassment. Tori was giggling so hard she was holding her sides. Up at the staff table, Dumbledore was acting like he approved of Harry's selection of friends, but inwardly he wasn't pleased that Harry didn't stay isolated. Draco whipped his wand out, but Harry was too quick.

"Don't even think about it, ferret," warned Harry as he pointed his new wand at Draco. "Or your worst nightmare will come true!"

"You can't do anything to me," sneered Draco, ignoring Harry. "I'm your superior…"

"Actually, I can," Harry retorted, showing his family ring to the Malfoy scion. "I'm the head of House Potter, one of the seven most ancient and most noble houses. That makes me your superior now."

"That may be, Potter," said Draco arrogantly. "But Astoria must be sitting by me, not Longbottom. She needs to be prepared for her future as Lady Malfoy."

"I saw to it that that will no longer happen," said Harry. "Don't you remember that midnight duel you called up with me first year?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with you claiming to call off Astoria's preparations?" Draco demanded.

"When you backed out, you sacrificed that contract to me," Harry informed. "So it's no longer valid and I gave it back to Lord Greengrass."

Draco just stood there almost as still as a statue (with Tori sticking her tongue out at him), his eye twitching as the other students were staring at the ordeal intently. Pansy was speechless at having found out what Draco did. Seeing that he lost the contract forever, Draco reluctantly turned around and began goose stepping toward the Slytherin table. Pansy, however glared at Tori before following Draco. Professor McGonagall looked disappointed at Harry for some reason. What Harry also didn't know was that Tori's sister, Daphne and her best friend, Tracey Davis had been paying extra attention. When an angry Draco was ranting to Pansy as they passed by, Daphne and Tracey looked over toward Harry, Neville and Tori. As Tracey continued looking at Harry, she felt her heart beating with excitement.

'Wow,' thought Tracey as she smiled. 'Look at him! Look at Harry go, showing the ferret who means business! I just need to think over on what I should say to Harry, if only I could've befriended him shortly after the start of first year. Assuming he's no longer friends with the youngest Weasleys especially, this'll be the time to…'

"Trace, you okay?" asked Daphne, unwittingly causing her best friend to jump in surprise as she snapped back into reality.

"Oh, yeah I'm okay, Daph," assured Tracey. "J-J-Just lost in train of thought!"

"I could tell you were ogling Harry," said Daphne, giving her best friend a wink. "You've had a crush on him since first year!"

"Yeah," Tracey sheepishly admitted. "But at least I'm not a fangirl of Harry's, like that Ginevra! She's a clear example of a fanatic one."

"I agree," said Daphne. "Tori hates her to the max, which intensifies every time they'd be partnered up in classes they'd share. Those were times when Tori would often tell me how that Ginevra keeps telling her about writing her name as _Ginevra Molly Potter_ on her assignments."

"Not to mention that she blushes heavily anytime Harry would be close by," said Tracey. "If she had a crush on him for the person he is, she wouldn't be blushing so intensely."

"I'm glad Harry is finally realizing that," said Daphne as she and Tracey looked over at Ginny, giving Harry that very fanatic fangirl look again. "He's ignoring her and she's getting too desperate."

"Yeah," agreed Tracey. "Harry doesn't need to be with somebody like Ginevra, he needs someone who appreciates him for his personality."

Lunchtime continued on, with Harry getting to know Neville and Tori better. Ginny kept giving Harry the very look fangirls would give him. Occasionally, she'd glare at Tori because she felt that she'd 'corrupt' Harry. Ginny didn't appear to care if Neville was 'corrupted,' but she eyed Tori every time she'd speak to Harry. While Hermione didn't bother the three, Ron was outraged that a 'filthy snake' would have the nerve to sit at the Gryffindor table. But his obsession for food overpowered his anger (since Tori wasn't shown having a crush on Harry). Dumbledore still wasn't impressed that Harry was being 'ungrateful' for befriending other students.

'How did Harry get so tall and muscular?' thought the headmaster of Hogwarts. 'And where did his round-shaped glasses go? I would've checked on him or either have Mr. Weasley, Miss Weasley or maybe Miss Granger do that for me, if it weren't for trying to find the culprit behind placing his name in the goblet of fire getting in the way. If Harry _does_ get out of control, I'll have a talk with him.'

Soon, everybody started leaving the Great Hall once lunch was over. Harry walked outside to go to his favourite spot by the Black Lake. He didn't quite make it outside because Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, and Theodore Nott stopped him.

"I don't appreciate you making an utter mockery outta me," Draco growled. "Now I insist you blackmail Lord Greengrass into…"

"You'd better watch it, ferret," warned Harry. "You're messing with the head of House Potter."

"Maybe father can give you…" Draco tried to persuade Harry.

"Bribery won't work with me, ferret," stated Harry. "If your father tries that, I'll make sure he gets arrested!"

"You wouldn't!" Draco challenged.

"Try me, ferret!" Harry retorted.

Draco's eyes flashed with anger, then he pulled his wand out and fired a curse at Harry. Harry's family ring sensed that and rebounded the spell back to Draco, hitting the Malfoy scion. This made Draco dance like crazy, no matter how hard he tried to avoid it. Pansy whipped her wand out and fired a stinging hex at Harry, only for the hex to rebound and hit her.

"OWWW!" Pansy screamed, shaking her right hand as she winced in pain.

"What's all this?" sneered the unmistakable voice of Professor Snape.

"These bad boys and girl here trying to antagonize me." stated Harry.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter," snapped Professor Snape. "And twenty more points for causing trouble!"

"Yeah, yeah, make the whole point system a stupid joke, why don't you, Snivellus!" Harry snapped back. This shocked Draco and his goons. "You saw what happened with your _own_ eyes, so quit turning a blind eye over bullying!"

"Okay, twenty-five more points from Gryffindor for your disrespectfulness towards a teacher," said Snape in a mocking tone of voice. "You should respect your teachers, Potter."

"Respect is earned, not given, Snivellus!" sneered Harry.

"Another detention for more of your cheekiness, Potter!" snarled Snape. "Keep this up and I'll…"

"You can't expel me, I'm a Triwizard champion!" mocked Harry.

"Fine! But you won't be getting out of the detentions, you brat," growled Snape. "I'll be speaking to your head of house about this!"

So Snape stalked off to do just that, unknowingly making Harry think of a prank for the potions teacher. Draco and his goons were so shocked by Harry's sudden change in demeanor that they couldn't find any better way to get a rise out of him. Harry just walked off with a grin on his face, happy to release all of the steam built up for the longest time. Harry returned to the Room of Requirement to write down a list of pranks for specific people. Despite his initial plan to wait a few days, Harry changed his mind and decided to have the pranks happen sooner.

'Since Snivellus continues to be a dickhead,' thought Harry. 'I'm going to start now. Dinnertime will be a big surprise for some of my enemies!'

So Harry called for his house elves to the Room of Requirement. Then he wrote down a list of pranks for specific people, in numerical order. Harry wanted to see Snape pranked first for his continuous cruel treatment towards any non Slytherin student (especially Harry and to a hardly lesser extent, Neville). The second person Harry wanted pranked was Ron, his supposed best friend because of accusing him of being a liar and an attention seeker. The third to be pranked Harry decided was going to be Fleur Delacour, for calling him a little boy. Draco would be the fourth victim, naturally for his belief that pure bloods were superior to everyone else. After getting the list written down, Harry asked Dobby to find a book full of spells (to find one where he could create copies of something). That turned out to be unnecessary because Dobby mentioned the gemino charm. So Harry used that on the list to create four copies and gave them to his house elves. Harry also made sure the list had instructions for the house elves to wait at least a minute or so before the next pranks began. Harry even reminded Dobby, Winky, Oreo and Piper to be invisible while the pranks were being pulled.

Dinnertime finally arrived and everybody started reporting to the Great Hall. Tori joined Neville at the Gryffindor table again while Harry sat down at his usual spot close to the double doors. Fred, George and Lee also sat near the middle of the Gryffindor table, close to where Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting. A few minutes into dinner, the prank for Snape occurred. His black robes turned into a hot pink colour (even his eyebrows and long black hair turned hot pink. To make it worse for the greasy git, he was also given hot pink eyeshadows and hot pink fingernails).

"AHHHHHH!" screamed Snape, in a girly-girl voice.

Laughter erupted as everybody caught a look at Snape. The head of Slytherin house got up and ran through the door behind the staff table. Dumbledore got up and followed him while some of the teachers tried suppressing their laughter. A minute later, Ron screamed in sheer horror as his eyes darted around. To the jealous redhead's point of view, everybody turned into a spider (but they were actually still normal in reality). Then Ron was forced to start tap-dancing for all the 'spiders.' This made everybody laugh harder because of Ron doing some very crude tap dance moves, but the teachers were appalled. As soon as the dancing was finished, Ron made a beeline for the double doors, with Hermione and Ginny getting up and running after him. After another minute, Fleur screamed as everybody turned their attention towards her. Her Beauxbatons uniform had changed into a purple short-sleeve onesie for toddlers (but Fleur's size), with socks in a matching colour. Then a bib and a bonnet with hippogriffs on them also appeared on the Beauxbatons champion, and the words _'little girl'_ appeared on the front of the onesie, then a purple pacifier appeared in her mouth (making her screaming stop). As soon as she pulled it out, Fleur ran out of the Great Hall screaming as laughter continued. Madam Maxime got up and followed Fleur, but none of the other Beauxbatons students (or the female ones at least) seemed to care.

"Gred, why would the Beauxbatons champion get pranked?" asked George.

"I don't know, Forge," said Fred. "Maybe she insulted somebody."

"Yeah, could be." said Lee.

Harry managed to keep a straight face, despite some struggles in doing so. It was another minute when Draco finally got pranked. His pale-blonde hair went from being combed and slicked back to being in a bouffant hairdo. Then his uniform changed into a silver corset, a green midi skirt, black tights and purple stilettos. He was also wearing lipstick, resulting in more laughter.

"OH NO!" screamed Draco, whose voice was also dubbed in a girly-girl pitch.

This made the Malfoy scion get up and start bolting for the double doors, but he kept falling down every few paces. Tori was laughing pretty hard, to the point where she was out of her seat and rolling around on the floor. Draco eventually made it out of the Great Hall while his goons got up and followed him. The rest of dinner passed by uneventfully, but the student body (including the foreign ones) were discussing the pranks pulled on the few students and one teacher. Not long after leaving the Great Hall, Harry was stopped by his head of house.

"Mr. Potter, I need to see you in my office this instant." said the deputy headmistress.

Harry nodded stiffly, but otherwise obeyed and followed Professor McGonagall to her office. Once they walked in, Professor McGonagall instructed Harry to sit on a chair in front of her desk. After sitting down in her chair, Professor McGonagall eyed Harry in anger.

"Mr. Potter," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "How do you explain what you said to Professor Snape earlier?"

"Justified!" said Harry coolly.

"Talking back to a teacher, let alone insulting one is justified?!" the deputy headmistress thundered. "There was no reason that those were justified, Mr. Potter!"

"In case you need your memory refreshed," snapped Harry. "Malfoy and his goons threatened to hex me to kingdom come, but Snape still docked points from me and 'punished' me, if one could call it that!"

"That's enough, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall snapped back. "Now you will be writing lines that says, _'I will be respectful to my teachers,'_ is that clear?"

Harry nodded stiffly once more, but then rolled his eyes in exasperation when his head of house turned her back to him. Rather than write the sentence instructed, Harry simply wrote, _'Respect is earned, not given,'_ and Harry secretly decided that McGonagall would be getting pranked as well. She never had his respect, so why should _he_ bother respecting his head of house?

'Professor Caterwaul has finally crossed the line,' thought Harry bitterly. 'She's been doing a slipshod job as deputy head. I should've seen it a mile away how devoted she is to Professor Dumb-As-Door! The headmaster will also be getting pranked, since he ignores my protests that my so-called relatives will never quit abusing me left and right, as well as keeping certain information for me concealed.'

Harry ignored Professor McGonagall the entire time he was writing his mock lines. Once he was done, Harry got up and left. Professor McGonagall was mortified to see that Harry changed the sentence she instructed him to write. Harry headed for the Room of Requirement, wrote down another list of pranks to happen at breakfast tomorrow morning, made copies and gave them to his house elves.

'If any teacher gives me any more unjust detentions,' thought Harry. 'I'll just ignore them because it's unreasonable! Plus, I usually never deserve those detentions.'

Then Harry instructed Dobby and Oreo to get his stuff out of Gryffindor Tower while Winky and Piper went to help Harry look for an abandoned classroom to use as a makeshift quarters. Harry kept his invisibility cloak with him, just in case. But he still used the marauders map to avoid detection by looking for shortcuts. Harry knew that the majority of Gryffindor would kick him out of the tower for the point losses, but he no longer cared. His own house called him a glory hound and scolded him for 'dishonouring' the name and house of Gryffindor. Clear enough, all of Gryffindor house (except those on Harry's side) were looking for him.

"Once the attention seeking prat shows his face near here again," said Ron to the other Gryffindors who backed him up. "I'll show him that we don't tolerate any unnecessary point deductions. We were nearly about to knock the house of snakes into second, but now we're just barely above Hufflepuff."

"Yeah, if it keeps up, then we'll be in last place." Seamus Finnigan complained.

While Neville, Fred, George and Lee were the only Gryffindor lions who still supported Harry, they were wisely staying silent. They knew that Harry had been treated like dirt for most of his time at Hogwarts. Hermione and Ginny were also silent, but they never spoke up in Harry's defence (also assuming Harry would come around and forgive). Ginny still felt certain that Harry would notice her and eventually ask her out. Then Hermione (after catching the look on the Weasley girl's face) told Ginny that Harry would never be interested in her, but the Weasley girl ignored it. The majority of Gryffindor House also had no idea that Harry was going to extract revenge in retaliation for being treated like dirt, despite showing respect to everyone. Back in his makeshift quarters, Harry finished warding it (with help from his house elves), now he wrote down another list of pranks and who'd be getting which prank (and who'd be first, second, etc… etc.), made copies and gave them to the house elves. Since tomorrow was Sunday, Harry decided that breakfast time would be the perfect time for the next set of pranks.

_To be continued!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: As usual, I just own this fanfic. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 4: Meeting Luna**

The next morning, the same routine occurred. Everybody reported to the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry sat where he usually sat, but then Ron walked up to him as as he arrived in the Great Hall.

"Get lost, you prat," snarled Ron, pointing to the double doors. "You've lost us alot of…"

"Shut your trap, Weasley," snapped Harry. "Professor Snape has been making the point system a stupid joke, and to a lesser extent, Professor McGonagall. You all should be used to that!"

"How would our head of house do that?" Ron demanded without even a care of being rude.

"When she docked fifty points each from me, Hermione and Neville each," stated Harry. "Just for simply being out past curfew. I even begged her to change her mind, but she ignored it and you know what that resulted in? Many students turning against me, they all insulted and bullied me as well more than they shunned me. That point loss was highly unreasonable for something so minor! It gave me the worst treatment ever while Neville and Hermione were simply shunned, but otherwise they didn't get bullied for that! In fact, Professor Caterwaul only docked twenty points from Malfoy that night, so she must be secretly in league with Snape!"

The other students nearby were shocked at what Harry was telling Ron. What surprised them even more was when Harry referred to his head of house as Professor Caterwaul. As they started talking about it, the teachers began getting wind of it. Snape looked as though he was going to foam in the mouth while McGonagall shot a stink eye in Harry's direction. The deputy headmistress got up to confront Harry over his behaviour (and for changing the sentence she instructed him to write).

"Mr. Potter," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "I demand that you settle down at once!"

"Why should I, professor?" Harry retorted. "Almost everybody has been treating me like hippogriff manure ever since my first year and you never did a thing to stop it!"

"Maybe he started it, professor." Ron claimed.

"Did not!" snapped Harry.

"Fifteen points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter," said the deputy headmistress. "For…"

"No reason at all," Harry interrupted. "You're making the point system a joke once again, professor. That fifty point loss from me, Neville and Hermione each for simply being out past curfew was unreasonable, and you should be ashamed to have even had the nerve to do that. The greasy git does an even worse job at that, since he docks points from many non Slytherin students for _even_ the most minor of infractions!"

"Mr. Potter," yelled Professor McGonagall, pointing to the double doors. "I insist you leave the Great Hall immediately, and I expect to see you in my office after breakfast!"

"Fine, I'll leave," said Harry, making sure his voice was filled with as much contempt as possible. "But, I'm not going to your office after breakfast! Mark my words, you'll all be sorry!"

Professor McGonagall was stunned to have witnessed Harry becoming more and more defiant. Hermione was shocked to have witnessed Harry go off on a tirade at the head of Gryffindor House. But Harry turned on a heel and left the Great Hall, with his mood worsened. Once he walked into a nearby abandoned classroom, Harry called for Dobby to get him the invisibility cloak. Then Dobby disapparated after Harry instructed him to make sure the other house elves were ready to begin the next set of pranks (but not before he gave the cloak to Harry). After making sure the cloak was securely over himself, Harry left the classroom and returned to the Great Hall to watch the pranks unfold. The first prank was what appeared to be fireworks shooting out from the top of Dumbledore's pointed hat, much to his chagrin. The students were laughing, then the fireworks started spelling out '_Dumb As Door,_' right above Dumbledore's head in big letters (with an arrow under them, pointing to the headmaster). The foreign visitors (minus Fleur, who Harry noticed was absent) were surprised to see all that, making them wonder if somebody was out to get Dumbledore.

The next prank involved Snape, his robes disappeared and were replaced with a pink, silky chemise. The potions teacher screamed as he got up and ran out through the door behind the staff table, with Dumbledore getting up and running after him. Professor McGonagall was the third to be pranked and she was engulfed in blood-red smoke. When it dissipated, McGonagall was now dressed up like the _Wicked Witch Of The West_ from _The Wizard Of Oz_. Then a broomstick appeared and McGonagall found herself forced to ride it around in the Great Hall (with the broom trailing black smoke), much to her shock. Harry was laughing silently as he watched the pranks. McGonagall's face was as red as tomatoes when the prank on her was done, then she turned around and ran out through the door behind the staff table. Ron was the next one, this time the house tables (and the ones the foreign students were sitting at) moved a bit as the Great Hall expanded. Ron found himself on a spider, much to his horror. It turned out to be a bucking spider and Ron was forced to ride it like a cowboy riding a horse. After the prank, Ron screamed as he ran out through the double doors, with Hermione and Ginny in tow.

The last prank (for now) was on Draco and his goons. The light in the Great Hall turned off and once it came back on, there was an illuminated floor in the middle of the Great Hall with some disco lights (and a disco ball) overhead. Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Theo and Pansy found themselves having floated to the middle of the Great Hall (where the illuminated floor was). The five Slytherins were also dressed in green disco dancing clothes, with the boys in three-inch platform shoes (while Pansy was in a silky dark-green disco dress and three-inch green stilettos). Draco happened to be playing the role of the dance leader, then the five Slytherins began dancing (very comically) to the song _Get Dancin'_ by _Disco Tex And The Sex-O-Lettes_. What nobody (besides Harry) expected was that not long after the dance started, the other pure-blood supremacist Slytherins found themselves forced to get up and join the dance, one by one. The majority of the students started laughing like crazy once more. Harry saw that half of the Slytherins (including Tori) were unaffected, making him realize that there were more decent Slytherins than previously assumed. Some of the other unaffected Slytherins Harry saw were Tori's sister, Daphne and her best friend, Tracey Davis. Others were three boys, a dark skin fourth year (who Harry vaguely recognized as Blaise Zabini). Harry also saw that Adrian Pucey (one of the Slytherin chasers) was also unaffected, along with Terence Higgs (who played as the Slytherin seeker before Draco bribed his way onto the team). Adrian had black hair (same colour as Harry's) while Terence had brown hair. Tracey also had brown hair in a medium ponytail, but she was too far for Harry notice her eye colour.

Once the prank ended, the pure blood supremacist Slytherins immediately left the Great Hall. Malfoy and his goons were the last to leave (with their faces bright red in embarrassment). Once the second set of pranks were finished, Harry left the Great Hall, took off his cloak, put it in his pocket and returned to the Great Hall. After the students finished laughing, they all began eating. Harry figured that Fleur was too embarrassed to leave the Beauxbatons carriage because of the prank pulled on her last night at dinner. Most of Gryffindor House shot Harry venomous looks, but he ignored them the whole time. Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw that Neville joined Tori there this time.

"That prank pulled on the Slytherins," said Lee. "So funny! Flint also would've been forced to join if he failed his final year the second time, since he always tried cheating his way for the victory in Quidditch."

"We concur," said Fred and George in unison. "The prank was still funny either way."

The Gryffindor pranksters laughed. Once he was finished eating his breakfast, Harry got up and left the Great Hall before the other students (mainly the majority of his fellow Gryffindor lions) could reprimand him unjustly. So Harry began walking outside toward his favourite spot by the Black Lake. Along the way, he was stopped by Hermione right outside the entrance and she had a disapproval look on her face (and her arms were crossed).

"Yes." said Harry neutrally.

"That behaviour you exhibited in the Great Hall at breakfast," scolded Hermione. "It was inexcusable! How can you be fine with talking back to a teacher?"

"You know what, Granger?!" snapped Harry. "You've just proved to be just like the majority of the wizarding world! I came to your defence during breakfast and your reaction just now is _your_ way of returning the favour? You also proved to be extremely ungrateful, otherwise you would've thanked me!"

"Professor McGonagall is a teacher, Harry," said Hermione. "You should be…"

"Respect is _earned_, not given," said Harry through gritted teeth. "And none of the teachers have done a damn thing to earn my respect. Dumbledork always sends me back to my abusive relatives despite being aware of it, Snivellus treats many non Slytherin students like shit, including yourself, Neville and especially me, and Professor Caterwaul ignores any complaints of bullying, especially from me. Professor Lupin was one of the very few adults to have actually helped me, along with Hagrid."

"Harry, you know how stressful teaching can be," Hermione scolded again. "I suggest you apologize to…"

"I HAVE A BETTER IDEA, GRANGER," shouted Harry at the top of his lungs. "WHY DON'T YOU LEARN TO TRUST YOUR GUT INSTINCTS INSTEAD OF BLINDLY FOLLOWING AUTHORITY FIGURES WHO CLEARLY DON'T DESERVE IT! NOW YOU'D BETTER TURN AROUND AND WALK AWAY THIS INSTANT BEFORE YOU MAKE THE SITUATION WORSE!"

Once he was done, Harry stomped outside and over to his favourite spot by the Black Lake, leaving Hermione stunned and a bit teary eyed. She felt so sure that she was being a good example to Harry, but now he was rebelling against the students and teachers. Hermione didn't think she was in the wrong, so she walked up to the hospital wing to be with Ron. The youngest male Weasley was given some calming draught because he was screaming about spiders. While wandering the school grounds under the invisibility cloak, Harry spotted a girl with dirty blonde hair strolling by. She had a necklace made from what appeared to be butterbeer corks and radish earrings. What had Harry feeling empathy for the girl was the fact that she was barefoot (she wasn't even wearing socks). Even though it was early November and yet, she didn't seem to be aware of (or may have been deliberately ignoring) that fact. Harry didn't know what house she was in because she was in everyday muggle clothes, since uniforms were only required during school hours. Nevertheless, Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off and began walking up to the girl.

"Hello, Harry Potter!" she greeted, in a dreamy-like voice.

"Um, hi," said Harry, surprised how she figured out he was there. "How did you know?"

"I could see you out in the corner of my eye," said the girl. Then she turned her attention to Harry and smiled. "I never believed that you entered your name into the goblet."

"Thank you," said Harry gratefully. "That means alot to me, umm…"

"Luna, Luna Lovegood," said the girl, holding a hand out at Harry. "I'm a Ravenclaw in third year."

"Nice to meet you, Luna," said Harry, shaking her hand. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you in bare feet? It's early November, clearly your feet will get cold pretty quickly!"

"Well," Luna began explaining, with sadness in her voice. "Some of my fellow Ravenclaw Eagles like to take my stuff, including my shoes and socks. That forces me to walk or run around barefoot, unless I'm wearing the tights required for my school uniform, but that hardly provides better protection for the soles of my feet. But somehow, my shoes and socks always turn up."

"Do all of the Ravenclaws do this or just a particular group?" asked Harry.

"Cho and her friends are my main tormentors," Luna sheepishly admitted. "Aside from taking my shoes and socks, they also take pleasure in ripping up my homework. It's like it's their mission to make sure I continue to fail my first year. Somehow, I still manage to pass."

"You never do anything to make them mad, do you?" asked Harry, hoping his hunch was correct.

"No," said Luna. "They just torment me for no reason. I never reported this to Professor Flitwick because I didn't wanna be seen as a tattle tale."

Harry understood that last part really well. He remembered the few times he tried to get help from a teacher back in primary school, which always backfired on him. While he never actually saw it, but his intuition was telling him that the headmistress of St. Grogery's was bribed by Uncle Vernon to keep quiet about the abuse and make sure Dudley and his gang escaped punishment. They even sort of implied that to Harry, since Dudley and his gang always stuck their tongues out at him anytime they escaped punishment. The teachers who tried to help Harry also got blacklisted, courtesy of Vernon's bribing. This would also result in harsher punishments (if anyone called it that) for Harry in the form of beatings. Harry was also labelled a tattle tale anytime he'd report Dudley and his gang bullying him. Harry also came to understand that Professor Flitwick may be unaware of Luna getting bullied. While he (and Professor Sprout) were simply neutral towards Harry, the raven haired Gryffindor still refused to report anything to a teacher. He was dealing with his enemies his way now, since all of his complaints continued to get ignored.

"If Cho and her friends do this again, you can tell me," said Harry. "I hate bullies. They'd better hope that this person doesn't find out about this. This person also found out about how I was treated by the majority of the student body, and the teachers."

"Is that why some of the students and teachers were getting pranked?!" asked Luna, getting intrigued.

"Yes," said Harry. "This person got fed up with how Dumbledore had been running this school, so he or she had been going around, undetected somehow."

"Oh okay," said Luna with fascination in her voice. "Do you think this person will give Cho and her friends some payback for what they've been doing to me?"

"I believe so," said Harry. "But like I mentioned, you can always let me know when and if Cho and her friends continue to bully you."

"Thank you, Harry," said Luna gratefully. "I hope you have some sort of strategy."

"I'm the head of House Potter," stated Harry, showing his family ring to Luna to prove it. "I can simply tell them that you're under my protection and that if they keep at it, then I can press charges against them on your behalf."

"Wow, thank you again, Harry!" said Luna, even more grateful.

She gave him a hug to prove how grateful she was. Harry flinched (remembering all the times when he was whacked on the back with Uncle Vernon's belt), which Luna noticed, but Harry hugged her back. She didn't say anything, not wanting to lose the chance of a friendship with Harry.

"Sorry, just all those threats of getting hexed has been making me all jumpy!" said Harry sheepishly, which was also technically true. He didn't want anybody finding out about the Dursleys abusive treatment, at least not yet.

"I understand, Harry," assured Luna in a soothing voice. "I'll see ya later!"

"Alright, take care and be careful!" said Harry.

So Luna began skipping away to who knows where. Harry knew he hadn't really been lying to Luna, he was just being discreet about the fact that the 'person' he was describing was himself. He also knew he couldn't risk anybody finding out about that, or else it was game over. Harry began walking around on the path leading to Hogsmeade Village. A little later, Harry came across a red haired girl with her back against a tree. She had her knees brought up to her chest and her face buried into her arms, crying from the sound of it. Harry knew that was Susan Bones (because her red hair was noticeably different from Ginny's).

"Are you alright, Susan?" asked Harry as he started walking closer to her.

"Huh," Susan tearfully responded as she lifted her head up. She saw that it was Harry. "Oh… yeah, I'm alright. Hannah just tried to g-get me to wear one of those newly developed buttons. Whe-en I refused, she just ye-elled at me and told me to stop falling for your supposed lies. It seems like my longtime friendship with Hannah came to an abrupt end!"

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Susan," said Harry in a sympathetic voice. "That happened to me when Ronald refused to believe that I never submitted my name for the tournament. That's when I realized that he was never my friend to begin with. Hannah pretty much proved that she was never your friend to make you wear some sort of button."

"Yeah, but it still hurts!" Susan tearfully replied.

"That's how I felt when Ron called me a liar and an egotistical prick." said Harry in understanding, then he started getting suspicious. "What buttons are you referring to?"

"Malfoy," said Susan, wiping the tears from her eyes. "He and his goons created all these buttons that say _Support Cedric Diggory._ But if the middle gets pushed, it changes to _Potter Stinks_!"

"What?!" exclaimed Harry. "When did these buttons get created?"

"I have no clue," said Susan. "But, Malfoy and his goons started distributing them after breakfast ended, when the other students started leaving the Great Hall."

"So Hannah pretty much got one for herself then." Harry deduced.

"Yeah, since she tried getting me to wear one," said Susan. "It still hurts that she would do this. I still proved my loyalty by staying on your side, Harry."

And I appreciate you for doing the right thing," stated Harry. "Even your aunt Amelia is proud of you for that."

"When did you meet her?" asked Susan.

"Yesterday, after I went to read my parents' will at Gringotts." said Harry.

"Oh okay," said Susan. "Would you like me to tell you about House Potter being a most ancient and most noble house?"

"Neville already told me about all that," said Harry. "But thanks anyway."

"You're welcome, Harry," said Susan, giving Harry a smile. Then she got up onto her feet. "I'm gonna go walk around the Black Lake, that way I can try and distract myself from what's been going on."

"Alright, take care Susan." said Harry.

"You too, Harry." said Susan.

Then she got up and started walking toward the Black Lake. Once Susan was out of sight, Harry pulled his invisibility cloak out and put it back over himself. Then he started wandering around to think things over. Draco and his goons creating badges to further intensify everybody's hatred toward the Boy-Who-Lived. Now Harry needed to figure out who all got the badges, so he could think of a suitable prank involving them. As he continued thinking over more potential pranks, Harry realized that he wasn't just pranking on his own behalf, but on the behalf of other people.

'Yep, I've been helping some of the students with these pranks!' thought Harry. 'Ron was also pranked for the few times he bullied Neville. Malfoy and his goons, mainly the ferret also got pranked for antagonizing Tori. I even came to Hermione's and Neville's rescue in standing up to McGonagall for that fifty point each deduction from her, myself and Neville, but Hermione proved to be an ungrateful bitch by 'scolding' me for my defiance. Maybe with that prank on those pureblood supremacist Slytherins, I also came to Daphne's and Tracey's rescue, along with coming to the rescue of Blaise, Adrian and Terence. Perhaps I can come up with pranks on Susan's behalf and even Luna's. They also didn't deserve the treatment they've been receiving.'

With that decision, Harry (while still under the invisibility cloak) began making a beeline for the Room of Requirement to come up with some pranks. Maybe he'll spot some of the students wearing those badges along the way. Even though he decided to come up with a prank involving the buttons, Harry wasn't willing to hurt the students wearing them (just enough for humiliation). Draco and his goons have certainly earned themselves another chance of getting pranked. Harry also had a hunch that Ron probably got one himself, thus resulting in the jealous redhead earning another chance to get pranked. Harry also remembered coming across a suit of armour that night he found the Mirror of Erised, which made him wonder how many of those (and how many statues) there were. He could ask his house elves to track down the number of suits of armour and number of statues throughout the castle once he made it back to the Room of Requirement.

_To be continued!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: As mentioned before, I only own this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns the rest, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 5: Thirsty For More**

Harry made it back to the Room of Requirement and pulled his cloak off, then set it down on a nearby table. Then he called for his house elves and they appeared with a pop.

"Piper! Oreo!" Harry spoke to his family house elves. "Would you go around the castle and find out how many statues and suits of armour there are?"

"Yes, Harry Potter," said Oreo and Piper in unison. "Oreo and Piper will get that done at once!"

"Dobby! Winky!" Harry spoke to his newly bonded house elves once his family house elves disappeared. "Could you follow a third year Ravenclaw girl named Luna Lovegood?"

"Dobby and Winky knows her," said Dobby and Winky in unison. "She comes to the kitchens from time to time to have's her meals. We's befriended her once she informed us of having been bullied."

"She told me that her main tormentors are Cho Chang and her friends," said Harry. "While I believe Luna to be innocent and not cause anybody to bully her, I'd like you two to keep watch over her and at the same time, spy on Cho and her friends. Maybe they'll spill the beans to Luna about something they hate and that could give me some prank ideas for them."

"What about you, Harry Potter?" asked Dobby.

"I'm going to wander around the castle under my invisibility cloak," said Harry. "To look for how many students have these buttons that say 'Support Cedric Diggory,' and then says, 'Potter Stinks' when the middle is pushed. The students who are wearing those buttons will be in for a nasty surprise once I come up with the right prank idea for the buttons."

"Good luck, Harry Potter!" said Dobby and Winky in unison.

"Thank you, you two," said Harry gratefully. "And good luck to the two of you!"

"Thank you, Harry Potter!" said Dobby and Winky in unison.

So Dobby and Winky disappeared with a pop, then Harry put the cloak back on over himself and left the Room of Requirement. Harry still had to be careful and not walk into anybody by accident because the invisibility cloak didn't stop him from being solid. As he continued wandering the corridors, Harry realized that there were a countless number of students who were wearing the buttons, thus making it nearly impossible to count the grand total. Harry was outraged even further when he spotted Ron having gotten himself a button from Draco. Hermione and Ginny gave Ron disapproving looks, but otherwise they just remained silent. This made Harry decide that enough was enough since Hermione had too much trust in authority without question. Ginny would just give him that crazy fangirl look, which always annoyed Harry. He knew that Ginny had a crush on him, but for his fame rather than for the person he was.

'Ginevra won't get the chance to date me!' thought Harry. 'She never even had that chance in the first place because it would be like dating with my own sister, since Fred and George have always treated me like a brother. It's like no matter how many times I try to ignore that look, Ginevra never backs off and leaves me alone.'

Harry continued wandering the grounds under his invisibility cloak. He grinned as he finally thought of a good prank involving those wretched buttons. He managed to keep his laughter in check, so as not to make any passing students think that there was an invisible laughing ghost in the corridors. When Harry passed by the courtyard, he spotted Neville and Tori getting ready to talk with Daphne and Tracey. They were also joined by Adrian, who seemed to be smitten with Daphne. Tori was trying to climb onto a ledge against a wall, but she was a little too short to do so on her own. So Neville picked her up bridal style and helped her up, then Tori kissed Neville's cheek to prove to him that she appreciated it (making Neville blush while grinning). Harry quietly made his way over to them to see if they had anything to say, while making sure he didn't bump into anybody (and staying a reasonable distance away).

"It's hard to believe that Harry never really got much help from any of the teachers," said Daphne. "No wonder he doesn't trust them anymore and McGonagall certainly made the situation worse."

"Yeah," Tracey agreed. "Poor Harry has been treating everybody with respect, including Professor Snape. All they do is just treat him with contempt, which is a piss poor way to return the favour."

"It's like Harry never really gets a break," said Tori. "He hasn't really had the chance to experience what it's like having genuine friends until yesterday. The weasel and the weaselette have been making sure of that and Harry finally figured that out. The weasel, after all started that fight with him in the Great Hall, but Harry was the one who got points docked."

"I did overhear Malfoy and his goons talking about Harry standing up to Professor Snape," said Adrian. "That's so unusual to hear about. Many non Slytherins are unable to stand up for themselves whenever Snape bullies them. I guess Harry got tired of the way alot of people treated him, which could explain why Harry finally decided to stand up for himself now."

"Snape enjoys tormenting me and Harry the most," said Neville. "He shouldn't even be teaching if he thinks bullying students is alright. Not only that, but Snape never actually teaches, he just simply writes half arsed instructions and expects us to know. He also ignores students who ask for help."

Harry nodded his head in agreement, since he also knew Snape wasn't an effective teacher. Why Dumbledore never did anything about Snape's behaviour was a mystery, which also made Harry loathe the headmaster more and more by the second. The ole coot certainly overlooked Snape's outrageous behaviour and continued to do so.

"Where's Terence and Blaise?" Daphne asked Adrian. "Weren't they gonna come meet up with us here?"

"Yeah, but Blaise would never say why he wasn't able to," said Adrian. "But Terence said something about trying to talk to Susan Bones. He mentioned that the colour of her hair was one thing he liked about her."

"Hopefully, Terence finds the courage to try to talk to Susan," said Tracey. "If I remember right, he would mention how he'd keep getting nervous when he'd spot her."

"That's exactly right," said Adrian. "Maybe we can help him be comfortable around Susan, if he gets nervous again and finds himself unable to approach her."

"How about you, Tracey?" said Tori. "Are you gonna try and find Harry?"

"I-I don't kn-know!" Tracey nervously replied, her cheeks turning red. "He could be anywhere in the castle and given how the majority of the school has been treating him, I think Harry may be isolating himself."

"I don't blame him," said Adrian. "I'd do the same if I was in his position."

"His personality is one thing about Harry I admire," said Tracey. "I heard that he has emerald-green eyes. I've always wanted a good look at them, but they've always been hidden behind his glasses. Even during meal times, he's never looked my way even if he's no longer wearing them."

Tracey blushed even more and covered her mouth with one of her hands when she said that, which was amusing Neville, Adrian, Daphne and Tori. The four couldn't resist laughing at Tracey's reaction to the very words that escaped her mouth. The five were unaware that Harry was observing them from under his invisibility cloak. Harry smiled and felt his heart beating with excitement as he continued watching Tracey. If he hadn't had his invisibility cloak over himself, Harry would've found it difficult to approach Tracey. He never quite understood girls before, given how the Dursleys abused him left and right for as long as he could remember.

"Just give it some time, Trace," Daphne advised. "And Harry might notice you and try to get to know you."

"You're right, Daph," Tracey agreed. "If people keep up with antagonizing him, he may just continue to isolate himself."

Daphne, Tori, Neville and Adrian nodded their heads in agreement. Then Adrian and Daphne began walking away, and they eventually started holding hands while they were laughing with each other. Neville helped Tori down from the ledge she was sitting on and they also began walking away while holding hands.

'I'm gonna find Harry,' thought Tracey with determination. 'He needs genuine friends and I gotta find him and prove to him that I'm someone he can trust!'

With that decision made, Tracey began wandering the corridors to find Harry (unaware that he was watching her the whole time under his invisibility cloak). As Harry wandered the corridors under his cloak, he finally spotted Draco handing out the buttons to any student wanting one themselves. Draco and Pansy were snickering even more every time another student asked for a button, but neither of the two Slytherins had any knowledge that Harry was observing them. Harry made his way over to the unused classroom he was using as his makeshift quarters. Harry decided to return to his makeshift quarters anytime it came to planning pranks. While he still went to the Room of Requirement from time to time, Harry didn't want to risk somebody else using it in his time of need. Meanwhile Fred, George and Lee were wandering the corridors, helping Harry out by pranking some students. Ron let his jealousy get to him again because he remembered his twin brothers and Lee talking about the investment money Harry gifted them with. So Ron went to confront his twin brothers over the matter, even though Hermione and Ginny protested it.

"How come the attention seeker gave you some money but not me?!" asked Ron, outraged.

"Harry isn't an attention seeker, Ickle Ronnykins," snapped Fred and George in unison. "You know how much he hates his fame! It also ain't any of your business to know how we got money or why Harry gave us some!"

"But he could have any girl he wants," said Ron, unaware that Ginny began stamping her feet in irritation. "So how could Harry hate his fame?"

"Would you rather have fame and wealth over a loving and caring family, Ickle Ronnykins?" asked Fred and George. "Harry would rather have his parents back over his fame as the Boy-Who-Lived, you should know that by now!"

"He doesn't seem to be acting like it," said Ron carelessly. "The way he's been treating the teachers…"

"Well, quite frankly, I'm taking Harry's side in that matter, Ron," said Lee. "Has there been any teacher besides Professor Lupin who helped Harry whenever he needed it most?"

"How did you know that Lupin helped Harry?" asked Ron.

"You and your big mouth, Ickle Ronnykins," said Fred and George. "We could hear you discussing Harry's patronus and how he told you about learning the Patronus charm just before the end of last year. We also take Harry's side in the matter because we haven't seen any other teacher coming to Harry's aid. Not even our head of house did a thing."

"So you three are going to condone Harry disrespecting a teacher now?" Hermione snapped at Fred, George and Lee. "How could you even do something like that?"

"We aren't condoning anything, Granger." said Fred (or George).

"We just know that Harry…" said George (or Fred).

"Has hardly been treated with any…" said Fred (or George).

"Respect, despite treating many people that way…" said George (or Fred).

"And he feels that his efforts are…" said Fred (or George).

"Worthless, so we don't blame him…" said George (or Fred).

"In the slightest, Granger. You shouldn't even be doing that, either!" the twins concluded their twin talk.

"Exactly," said Lee in agreement. "Harry certainly has a point here, respect is earned, not given. The majority of our fellow students worship Harry one day and despise him the next when he's dragged into the spotlight against his will. If you're really Harry's friend, you'd be agreeing with him, too!"

"But his yelling at McGonagall for…" Hermione tried defending their head of house.

"Now you've just proven that you were never really his friend, Granger," snapped Lee. "You're to turn around and walk away from us this instant, we've had enough!"

Hermione huffed in frustration as she and Ron turned around and walked away. Ginny had her arms folded across her chest with a downhearted look on her face. Fred, George and Lee glared at her, knowing why she had that look.

"What's up with you, Ickle Ginnykins?!" asked Fred and George irritably.

"Harry won't notice me!" Ginny ranted. "I keep trying to get him to, but he just ignores me and/or rolls his eyes at me!"

"Like giving him that fangirl look and keeping your distance from him while blushing madly will do the trick!" said Lee sarcastically. Then he continued on with exasperation in his voice. "The real Harry has never been interested in you and never will be!"

"I just know Harry loves me," whined Ginny, ignoring what Lee said. "He knows it, too! He's my one and only Harry! He just doesn't realize it, yet!"

"Sure he is!" said Fred and George sarcastically. Then they continued on in a normal, but firm voice. "Those were just stories that mum and dad told you, Ginevra. It was part of a fantasy of yours. But this is reality and Harry wouldn't even think of dating you. So quit living in a fantasy!"

"You should also accept that you can't always get what you want," said Lee. "If everybody went around doing what they wanted or got they wanted all the time, there'd be chaos."

"You just don't wanna see me getting any happiness!" Ginny whined again, with her fists clenched tightly.

"No, you just wanna risk putting our friendship with Harry in jeopardy," said Fred and George irritably. "Harry isn't willing to do anything like that. Now quit your whining about Harry not noticing you because we're getting tired of hearing it!"

Ginny walked away from the prankster trio, but refused to accept that Harry wouldn't even think of going out with her. She went into an empty classroom and proceeded to throw a tantrum over the whole thing and that nobody would take her side. Harry made it back to his makeshift quarters and called his house elves over, for more prank ideas.

"Dobby," said Harry. "I've got an idea that I'd think you like to help me with. Those buttons I told you, Winky, Oreo and Piper about were created by Draco Malfoy and his girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson."

"What would you likes Dobby to do with them buttons?" asked Dobby, getting intrigued.

"Well, the buttons say, Support Diggory, but if the middle were pushed, then it changes to, Potter Stinks!" stated Harry. "Do you think you could put a charm all around the Great Hall at lunchtime that changes, Potter Stinks, to an insult directed at Malfoy?"

"Yes, Harry Potter," said Dobby with fascination in his voice. "What kind of insult would you like aimed at one of Dobby's former bad masters?"

"I thought you'd like to think up of one on your own," said Harry, smiling at Dobby. "Since the Malfoys have abused you left and right."

"Oh thank you, Harry Potter," said Dobby gratefully. "Dobby will comes up with the best ones possible!"

"Winky hasn't been able to finds any secrets about those bullies of Luna," said Winky. "Winky is sorry she couldn't do that's!"

"Don't worry, Winky," assured Harry in understanding. "You tried your best, that's what matters more!"

"Oreo and Piper counted up all's the amours and statues," said Oreo gleefully. "With joints effort, the statues total is 100 and the suit of armours total is at 125."

"Great job, you two," Harry praised Oreo and Piper. "The prank involving the statues and armour will have to wait until tomorrow, okay?"

"That sounds good, Harry Potter," said the other four house elves. "What others pranks would you like pulled at lunch besides them buttons?"

"None that I can think of, but thank you," said Harry. "I hope the prank involving the buttons will finally get the ferret especially in deep trouble."

Harry and his house elves started laughing like crazy. All too soon, lunchtime arrived and everybody started filing into the Great Hall. The majority of Gryffindor House tried ordering Harry to leave, only for it to get ignored. Ron walked up to Harry to 'confront' him over his so called disobedience.

"Alright, you dolt," snapped Ron. "How many times do we lions need to tell you to leave?!"

"The question is, how many times do I need to remind you that I _hate_ being dragged into the stupid spotlight, Ickle Ronnykins?!" snarled Harry. "Instead of making assumptions, why don't you pay attention to my side of the story? That's what best friends do, but you've been proving me wrong year after year!"

While Ron was continuing his bickering at Harry, Draco approached Tori and glared at her. Neville (who was accompanying Tori) also glared at the Malfoy scion, wondering what he was going to do this time. Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, Adrian and Terence rolled their eyes in exasperation, since Draco never knew when to quit. Pansy also approached Tori, since she wasn't happy with the youngest Greengrass for turning down one of the buttons offered to her.

"Astoria, I thought I made it clear to you that you were to take a button I went to all the trouble of creating!" snapped Draco.

"I don't like that many of you people treat Harry like hippogriff manure," Tori snapped back. "If you tried getting to know the real him, you'd see a different side!"

"You know Potter stinks," growled Draco. "I'll prove it to you!"

So he pushed the middle and the '_Support Cedric Diggory_' disappeared. What was now on the button resulted in laughter erupting. Draco looked at his button and saw that the '_Potter stinks_' was no longer there. In it's place were the words _'Malfoy blows goats!_' Draco was in utter shock that his button had been tampered with. Pansy refused to believe the words that degraded Draco, but laughter continued on. To make it worse for Draco, all of the buttons changed to the degrading words when he pushed the button. When Harry saw what was in place in where '_Potter stinks_' was on Ron's button, he jumped in utter surprise.

'Dobby sure picked the right one!' thought Harry gleefully, while managing a straight face.

Since the neutral students or those completely on Harry's side were talking about the buttons quite audibly, the next part of the prank was kicking in. That was when Professor Dumbledore stood up with an irritable look on his face.

"Alright," Dumbledore announced as soon as he magnified his voice. "Whoever is wearing those buttons must report to my office at once!"

So he got up and returned to his office, with Professor McGonagall in tow since she was also deputy headmistress. The students wearing the buttons tried taking them off their shirts, only to realize that they wouldn't budge. Then they found themselves forced to head to the headmaster's office. Harry saw that some of the buttons wearers were Malfoy and his goons, naturally, along with the rest of the Slytherins who were pure blood supremacists. Half of the Hufflepuffs were also wearing the buttons, including Hannah Abbott, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Ernie MacMillan. Half of the Ravenclaws also happened to have buttons themselves, including Cho and her friends (much to Luna's surprise and relief). A little over half the Gryffindors (including Ron) were also included in wearing the buttons and forced to report to Dumbledore's office.

Most of the students who were still in the Great Hall were neutral (with a much smaller portion of the students completely on Harry's side). Some of the house points from all houses were docked, as shown when all four of the hourglasses containing the house points had the little gems retracting. After the button wearing students (along with Dumbledore and McGonagall) made it back to the Great Hall, there was some talk going on about the punishments the button wearing students received besides points being docked. It turned out that the house points being docked and the buttons getting confiscated were all that they got for their 'punishment,' which didn't please Harry (though, he still managed a straight face). Luna also managed to keep a cheerful look on her face, but inwardly, she didn't like that Cho and her friends (along with the rest of the button wearing students) got off way too easy.

'Now's the time to step it up!' thought Harry in determination.

The rest of lunch passed by monotonously, then Harry attempted to return to his makeshift quarters. He hadn't made it very far from the Great Hall when Hermione tried to 'confront' him once more.

"Alright, Harry," said Hermione irritably. "What was up with that whole fiasco?"

"What're you talking about?" asked Harry, equally irritated.

"I know you had something to do with those buttons changing," snapped Hermione. "That was way too degrading, you know!"

"What made you think I did that?" said Harry. "You knew I was genuinely surprised when Ronald showed me!"

"That was still way too degrading." said Hermione sternly, her arms folded across her chest.

"Oh, so you're sticking up for the ferret, I see," said Harry. "I have no use in talking to you, Granger! I can't believe you not only defended the ferret, but you also just accused me of something without any proof!"

The two former friends were so entangled in their argument that they didn't notice Tracey strolling by. The Slytherin girl glared at Hermione after hearing her defend Malfoy and making accusations towards Harry without proof. Tracey decided to come to Harry's rescue by hiding herself nearby, then she pointed her wand at Hermione and cast the hiccups charm (something she learned from Daphne).

"That wasn't… _hic_… a ni… _hic_… ice thing to_… hic_… oo say, Ha…_ hic_… arry!" snapped Hermione, hiccuping in between her talking. "I dema… _hic_… and an ap… _hic_… pology this ins… _hic_… stant!"

"You started this, _Granger_," growled Harry. "So you owe _me_ an apology!"

"Don't gi… _hic_… ive me any of… _hic_… any of that nonse… _hic_… ense!" Hermione growled back. "You were… _hic_… ere the one in… _hic_… the wrong he… _hic_… ere! You di… _hic_… isrepecting te… _hic_… eachers is inex… _hic_… excusable!"

The bushy haired girl glared at Harry (as if to say that he had to nerve to say something like that). Nevertheless, Hermione walked away while hiccuping every five to ten seconds. Harry was surprised that Hermione somehow got the hiccups (unaware that Tracey was still close by, keeping watch over him to make sure he was still safe), but he was in a bad mood again, so he angrily returned to his makeshift quarters to come up with some more pranks.

'You'll be sorry to have ever done that, Granger!' thought Tracey angrily, glaring at the still hiccuping bushy haired girl. 'I wanted to get to know Harry, but you interfered with that!'

So Tracey walked away from her hiding spot and went to find Daphne. Ginny was acting all desperate because she still tried to get Harry to notice her at lunch, but he flat out ignored her. Ron also didn't like Harry 'being rude' to his sister for her efforts in getting him to notice her. Fred and George, however were pretty happy to see that, especially when Lee pointed it out.

"Just wait until a possibility of a dance or something and Ginevra tries asking Harry," said Lee while smirking. "He'll just flip if that were to ever happen!"

"True dat," said the twins in unison. "Ickle Ginnykins doesn't deserve Harry! She knows she won't get the chance to date him, but yet she refuses to accept it."

Meanwhile, Harry returned to his makeshift quarters. He opted to eat dinner there when the time came. He wrote down some other prank ideas that he felt would 'step it up.' The one involving the statues and suits of armour would start happening tomorrow after breakfast ended, but Harry had one involving Ron, Hermione and Ginny to occur at breakfast tomorrow.

'Ronald is definitely getting pranked again for his continuing to treat me like shit,' thought Harry. 'Hermione will be involved in the prank since she refuses to stop blindly trusting adults who clearly don't deserve it. Ginevra will also be involved in the prank since she won't quit giving me that _stupid_ look!'

Harry finished writing down the prank to be pulled on Ron, Hermione and Ginny, made copies and gave them to his house elves. Harry decided that if anybody were to cause him any trouble tomorrow, then he could always come back to his makeshift quarters and get some more pranks written down. He also realized that that tactic was recommended if he were to drive certain people out of the castle. If Minister Fudge and perhaps Barty Crouch were to arrive at the Great Hall at any time, Harry could have pranks pulled on them, too (since they gave Sirius the kangaroo court that subsequently resulted in his unjust stay in Azkaban, and Harry's placement with the abusive Dursleys). Maybe the incompetent ministry officials might let slip as to what the first task may be.

_To be continued!_


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: As usual, I only own this fanfic. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 6: The Ghostly Teacher Gets The Cold Shoulder**

It was Monday morning and everybody reported to the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry was joined by Fred, George, Lee, Neville and Tori at the Gryffindor table. It was five minutes into breakfast when the light went out, followed by some rumbling that indicated that the Great Hall was expanding. When the light turned back on, everybody faced the centre and saw that Ron was dressed up like a singer, while Hermione and Ginny were dressed up like backup dancers. Some of the half-bloods, muggle-borns and muggle raised students knew that Ron was dressed up like Rick Astley. Then Rick's song _Never Gonna Give You Up_ started playing, with Hermione and Ginny dancing to it very comically. Ron found himself forced to sing the lyrics, but his voice was dubbed in a high-pitch tone, much to the amusement of the student body (some of the teachers were giggling, even though they were having trouble trying to keep a straight face). Ron, Hermione and Ginny were bright red in embarrassment. Ron was the first to book it out of the Great Hall, followed by Hermione and then Ginny.

'That'll teach you three a lesson for turning your backs on me!' thought Harry, managing to keep a straight face.

The rest of breakfast resumed without any more distractions and interruptions. Harry groaned inwardly when he and his fellow Gryffindors would be sharing potions with the Slytherins, which would more than likely give the potions teacher another opportunity to antagonize him. Some of the students began finding out that another prank was being pulled. Anytime somebody passed by a suit of armour, it would start doing the crotch grab. Some were disgusted (particularly any teacher who happened to be passing by) because of it being vulgar, while others laughed. The statues would turn around, bend over and start patting their rear ends (as if to say _kiss my arse_). That also disgusted the teachers and they couldn't figure out who may have been behind the statues and armour acting all rude and vulgar. The teachers even tried reversing the charm without any success. Harry also had to deal with it (he instructed the house elves to make sure of it, in an attempt to throw everybody off track and avoid suspicions). As usual, Snape didn't really teach the lesson how teachers should. Draco tried to sabotage Harry and Neville's respective potions… yet again. This time, Harry moved his cauldron over (since the ferret wanted to stop Harry first) and did the same with Neville's (since he was distracted and only noticed when he saw Harry pushing the cauldron). As soon as Malfoy wasn't looking, Harry tossed in some kind of hot sauce (a brand that came from the muggle world) into the cauldron.

"Is the potion supposed to be a red-orange like colour?" Draco asked himself with a puzzled look on his face.

As soon as he added an adder's fork, the bottom of the cauldron collapsed and caused Draco's potion to spill over the table he and Pansy were sharing. The messy liquid ended up dripping onto their respective laps and as soon as the liquid soaked through Draco's trousers and Pansy's skirt and tights, their skin that was exposed to the liquid turned red orange and caused them intense pain. Crabbe, Goyle and Theo escorted Draco and Pansy over to the hospital wing while Snape darted his black eyes around the room, wondering who may have caused the fiasco.

"Detention, Potter!" growled Snape.

"What for?" asked Harry irritably.

"For sabotaging Draco's potion, you brat!" snarled Snape.

"You can't just accuse somebody of something without any proof, you greasy git!" Harry snarled back.

"Another detention and fifty points from Gryffindor for disrespecting a teacher!" snapped Snape.

"Detention Potter, detention Potter!" mocked Harry.

"Okay, that's a third detention for…" Snape began raising his voice.

"Respect is earned, not given, Snivellus!" shouted Harry. "You keep this inexcusable behaviour of yours up and I'll keep on retaliating!"

"I expect to see you in my office after lunch, you brat!" Snape retorted.

At that moment, the bell charm went off to signal the end of the period. Since Harry's next class was Divination, he went back to his makeshift quarters (since he no longer had a real reason to be near the fraud). The other fourth year Gryffindors and Slytherins were talking about Harry blowing up at Snape as they left the potions classroom. Word about that was quickly spreading, but Harry no longer cared if he found out or not. Inevitably, Professor McGonagall found out about Harry's 'disrespect' towards Professor Snape, so she began wandering the corridors to locate him (since she had a free period). The head of Gryffindor House had no idea that Harry's house elves were patrolling the corridors while invisible.

"What has gotten into Mr. Potter all of a sudden?!" the deputy headmistress asked herself with annoyance in her voice. "Talking back and disrespecting a teacher once more! If he wasn't a Triwizard champion, he would've been on the brink of facing possible expulsion for this outrageous behaviour."

The house elves heard every word that escaped Professor McGonagall's lips. So they vanished and reappeared back in Harry's makeshift quarters. Once they notified Harry of what his head of house was doing, he got out some parchment, a quill and some ink. Then he started writing down some more pranks to happen at lunch time, then he made copies and gave them to his house elves. After thanking each one individually, the house elves vanished back to the kitchens. All too soon, it was time for herbology (in which Gryffindors were going to share with the Hufflepuffs), so Harry began reporting to the school greenhouses. Professor Sprout explained that today's lesson would be about the Flitterbloom. Harry and Neville were the odd ones out (since alot of the students still believed Harry to be a glory hound, and thus didn't want to be anywhere near him), but Susan opted to join them, which impressed Professor Sprout to the point where Susan earned twenty-five points for demonstrating loyalty. That surprised Harry, but he was still being cautious because he didn't want to place trust in any adult who may be Dumbledore worshippers.

"So Harry," said Susan, trying to keep her voice down so her head of house couldn't hear. "People have been talking about you standing up to Snape again."

"Yes, I did," Harry admitted. "Malfoy tried to sabotage my potion and pretty much would've done the same to Neville's, so I made sure that it wouldn't happen. Then when the ferret got distracted, I dumped some hot sauce into his cauldron and as soon as he added in some kind of ingredient, the bottom of the cauldron collapsed and caused the liquid to spill over the table and onto the ferret and the pug."

"But then Snape blamed Harry for it without any proof." said Neville.

"Auntie isn't very happy with Snape's behaviour," said Susan. "Over the years, she's been getting complaints from other parents whose kids wrote home and explained how Snape has been teaching and bullying students. But Snape continues to get let off the hook because of Dumbledore speaking up for him. But the worst is that there hasn't been very many healers at St. Mungo's Hospital for a while now, and becoming a healer requires an 'O' in potions."

"Snape has been making sure only his Slytherins can be qualified," said Neville. "He's oblivious to the fact that he's ruining careers."

"The greasy git is just that spiteful," stated Harry, making sure Professor Sprout wouldn't hear the discussion. "I complained to Professor Dumb-As-Door and Professor Caterwaul about Snape's behaviour several times in the past, but they just dismissed that and docked points from Gryffindor for 'disrespecting a teacher' every time. That intensifies my distrust towards most adults."

The discussion had to stop where it was, since neither Harry, Neville, nor Susan wanted to risk having somebody eavesdrop. Not only that, but they needed to focus on their herbology assignment. Pretty soon, it was time for Harry and his fellow Gryffindors to head off to Charms (with the Slytherins). Professor Flitwick also didn't cause Harry any problems, but he was still being cautious. The charms lesson was about the summoning charm. Harry and Neville managed to get it after four tries, which didn't impress Hermione (since she still had trouble getting the charm to work for her) because she felt that she would lose her place as the brightest student in her year. On the other hand, Tracey smiled as she watched Harry working on the charm.

"Come on, Trace," said Daphne, tapping her best friend on the shoulder. "Now's not the time to be ogling Harry."

"Sorry Daph," said Tracey sheepishly, her cheeks turning red. "I couldn't help myself!"

Daphne smirked at Tracey's reaction, knowing how much she had a crush on Harry. After charms ended, everybody dropped off their stuff before heading to the Great Hall for lunch. The first prank at lunch involved Snape first, and his robes were replaced with a chemise once more. It was bright pink again, but this one was sparkly instead of silky. Snape screamed as the student body started laughing, then the head of Slytherin House got up and ran out the door behind the staff table (with Dumbledore in tow). Snape also had no knowledge that Oreo had managed to snap a picture of him in the chemise with a camera Harry gave him (after making sure the flash was charmed not to happen, in order to ensure that Snape had no way of realizing that somebody was spying on him). Harry hoped the picture of Snape in that chemise would be enough to resign and drive him out of the castle.

The second prank involved Ron's food increasing in size, then coming to life and chasing him out of the Great Hall. Ron screamed in hysterics when that happened, making the students laugh harder while Hermione and Ginny got up and ran after him. The third one involved Cho and her friends finding themselves in dancing costumes with their bellies showing. Then they started doing a very comical belly dance, with Cho acting as the lead dancer (as punishment for antagonizing Luna). Once the prank on Cho and her friends was finished, they all dashed out of the Great Hall. Luna was giggling so hard that tears were flowing down her face. Professor McGonagall kept darting her eyes around the Great Hall, wondering who may have been behind the pranks. The final prank (at least for now) involved Malfoy and his goons, along with other pure-blood supremacist Slytherins found themselves getting up and getting engulfed in forest-green smoke. Once it dissipated, they were dressed up like bikers from the muggle world (with the male bigoted Slytherins having their hair grown to shoulder-length, and the females with two-sided braids) and they started marching their way out of the Great Hall to the song _Get A Haircut_ by _George Thorogood And The Destroyers_, all the way back to the Slytherin common room. Draco was forced to act like the leader for the males, and Pansy as the leader for the females. Once lunch ended, everybody headed back to their respective common rooms to get their stuff and head off to their afternoon lessons. Harry opted to go back to his makeshift quarters because otherwise, he would've been wasting time in History of Magic (with the Gryffindors sharing with the Ravenclaws).

"Are you really gonna skip History of Magic, Harry?!" asked Neville, surprised.

"Yep," said Harry in a determined voice, while smirking. "I mean, all Professor _Pinhead_ likes to talk about is the subject on goblin wars and nothing else! What's the point of going to a class that doesn't have something new to discuss for lessons?"

"You do have a point, Harry," Neville agreed. "There's more to History of Magic than just goblin wars!"

"It happens with me and the other third years, too!" stated Tori.

"So it's true we don't have to go to History of Magic anymore, Harry?" Fred, George and Lee chorused.

"Yeah," said Harry, again while smirking. "If all that ghost of a teacher enjoys talking about is goblin wars, then it's pointless to continue that dull class!"

Harry didn't realize that the other students who passed by him had been paying attention to his words. Those who _did_ have History of Magic decided that it also meant a free period, so they returned to their respective house common rooms or outside. Not only that, but the countless number of other students began discussing it, too. It didn't take long for word to reach Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore. They were baffled as to what may have been going on with Harry because he was getting more and more defiant. Ron and Ginny had to drag Hermione back to Gryffindor Tower once they got wind of it, but Hermione still insisted that it was necessary. Harry opted to go over to his favourite spot by the Black Lake before heading back to his makeshift quarters (since the weather was decent). On the way, he accidentally bumped into a brown haired girl who had green trimmings on her robes (identifying her as a Slytherin). She had fallen backwards and landed on her bum as a result.

"Sorry," Harry apologized to the girl. "I'd been lost in my thoughts!"

As she lifted her head to face Harry, he saw that it was Tracey Davis. Harry felt his heart pound when he looked down at her. Likewise, Tracey felt her heart beating with a combination of excitement and nervousness when she looked up at Harry. She began smiling at him while blushing.

"It's all good, Harry," Tracey assured, keeping her voice soft. "But I'm happy you did because I finally got a good look at those green eyes!"

"Oh, well thank you, Tracey!" said Harry as he, too started blushing. Then he lowered a hand. "Want me to help you up?"

"Yes, thank you Harry!" said Tracey with appreciation in her voice.

She grabbed Harry's hand and he pulled her up onto her feet. Harry also got a good look at Tracey's eyes (they were a cobalt-blue colour). She was even tall for a girl (standing at a height of 5'6"). Her shoulder-length brown hair was in a medium ponytail.

"I heard about History of Magic no longer being necessary." said Tracey. "Other students were talking about it."

"As long as Professor Binns is still the teacher for that subject, then it would be unnecessary," said Harry. "He refuses to talk about something new, so why should we bother?"

"Agreed," stated Tracey. "Since many of us fall asleep not just because of his continuous 'lecture' on the goblin wars, but his monotone voice just accelerates the boredom!"

"No kidding," said Harry. "Dumbledore must be totally off his rocker in thinking that Professor Binns' idea of History of Magic is the best thing for us."

"Yeah, it does seem like the teachers 'teaching' the hardest subjects are the incompetent ones," said Tracey. "I can't understand why Dumbledore isn't putting in alot of effort in finding decent ones. I'd better get to Ancient Runes, Harry. We should meet up again sometime!"

"I'd like that!" said Harry with excitement, with a smile on his face. "I'll think of something, just so certain people won't follow me or you!"

"Good idea, Harry," stated Tracey. "I wouldn't like any of the wrong people trying to follow me. See ya, Harry!"

"See ya, Tracey." said Harry.

Then she turned around and walked to her next lesson. Harry couldn't help but watch Tracey walk away. He figured that, maybe one of his female house elves could help apparate her to his makeshift quarters. That would prevent any of Harry's enemies from trying to help the ole coot in 'keeping an eye' on him. Meanwhile in the History of Magic classroom, Professor Binns was baffled to see that not one student (except Hermione and a few unidentified Ravenclaws) showed up for today's lesson. Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation, believing who was behind the scheme of skipping History of Magic. After Professor Dumbledore got wind of that, he decided that Harry needed to be given a lecture. The headmaster had no idea that he was underestimating Harry.

_To be continued!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: Like I've previously said, I only own this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns everything else, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 7: Rita's Major Disappointment**

Classes ended for the day and Harry began heading back to his makeshift quarters. Along the way, he crossed paths with three of his now least favourite people. Ron and Hermione approached Harry while Ginny stood fifteen or twenty feet away, blushing madly (which Harry ignored, much to her dismay).

"Yes?!" asked Harry coolly.

"Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak with you, Harry." stated Hermione.

"If Professor Bumblebee wants to speak with me," said Harry irritably. "He should tell me himself! It ain't that hard for him to leave his office for a couple minutes to do that!"

"Disrespecting a teacher or a headmaster won't do you any good, you know!" Hermione scolded, her arms folded across her chest.

"Piss off, Granger!!" snapped Harry. "If I told you once, I told you a million times, respect is earned, not given! So far neither Dumbledork, Snivellus nor Professor Caterwaul have done a damn thing to earn my respect. You, Ronald and Ginevra also haven't done the same."

"Professor Dumbledore just wants to speak with you about your behaviour, Harry." said Ron, trying to keep his nervousness concealed.

"Like I just said, he should tell me personally," said Harry sourly. "And you, Granger and Ginevra will address me as Lord Potter from now on. Only my friends are allowed to call me Harry, understood?"

"But we are your friends, Harry!" Hermione tried assuring, while ignoring Harry's statement (and Ron nodding his head uneasily in understanding). But Ginny still kept giving Harry that very fangirl look.

"No you're not, you're just obeying Dumbledork's highly immoral plans by pretending to have been my friend since first year, all for this Greater Good malarkey," snapped Harry. "Learn to trust your gut instead of blindly trusting authority without question! Now, you three will steer clear of me or else I'll retaliate in any way, shape or form!"

Ron and Hermione nodded their heads and started walking away while Harry continued on over to his makeshift quarters. Ginny, however just darted out of her hiding spot in another futile attempt to get Harry to notice her. This resulted in Harry whipping his wand out and non-verbally casting the full body bind on the Weasley girl in retaliation and continuing on. It was moments later when Fred, George and Lee strolled by and looked down at Ginny still in the full body bind.

"My, my, did Ickle Ginnykins get herself in too deep!" mocked Fred and George in their twin speak.

"I believe she did!" said Lee sneeringly.

The counter curse was performed on Ginny, freeing her from the bind. Ginny got back onto her feet and faced her twin brothers.

"Could you please talk to Harry?" Ginny pleaded desperately. "He won't notice me and every time he does, he either just walks away or casts charms on me instead of appreciating my efforts!!"

"We've got a better idea, Ickle Ginnykins," chorused Fred and George. "Leave Harry alone!! We know you only want him for his fame and not the real him because of your blushing so madly, so quit following him around. He hates his fame and you know it. You'll never get to date him, not even in a million years. Those were stories mum and dad would tell you, so you need to start accepting reality."

"NO, NO, NOOOOO!!!!" squealed Ginny, appearing as though she was on the verge of bursting into tears. "YOU JUST DON'T WANNA SEE ME LIVE A HAPPILY EVER AFTER!! HARRY'S MINE AND MINE ONLY, HE JUST NEEDS TO FIGURE IT OUT!!"

"Get lost, Ickle Ginnykins!" snapped Fred and George with angry looks on their faces, also motioning with their thumbs. "We're getting tired of your bitchy attitude!"

Ginny stomped away, now with tears in her eyes. Fred, George and Lee just rolled their eyes in exasperation before strolling the corridors. Ginny found an abandoned classroom and walked into it, slammed the door shut, and cast some locking and privacy charms. Then she proceeded to throw another tantrum over the whole issue, again.

"Why won't anybody listen to me??!!" screamed Ginny as tears flowed down her cheeks, stamping her feet on the ground repeatedly. "Ron and Hermione do, but nobody else will! Everybody knows Harry and I will end up together someday, but they won't admit it!! Somebody else out there must be willing to take my side! I know Harry's mine, mum and dad said so!"

Meanwhile, Harry made it outside and over to his favourite spot by the Black Lake. He saw that Ron and Hermione tried following him moments ago, so going back to his makeshift quarters wasn't an option. If any of his enemies found out, they'd tattle to Dumbledore and/or McGonagall in an attempt to pass Harry off as him being out past curfew. So Harry took different corridors and secret passageways to throw Ron and Hermione off course. It was five minutes later when Harry heard three pairs of feet approaching, so he whipped his wand out and pointed in the direction of the sound of approaching feet (believing the feet belonged to Ron, Hermione and Ginny). Harry blew a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only Neville, Tori and Tracey, so he pocketed his wand.

"Sorry if we scared you, Harry!" Neville, Tori and Tracey apologized.

"It's all good," assured Harry. "But at the same time, I'm just being cautious to make sure it wasn't Ronald, Granger nor Ginevra."

"I don't blame ya, Harry," said Neville. "I'd hate to be followed almost everywhere I'd go, too."

"Those three won't even pay heed to the fact that they're not well liked throughout the school." said Tori. "But it's their loss, having too much trust in people who don't deserve it."

"Particularly Granger." stated Harry. Then he spotted something in Neville's hand and curiosity got to him. "What do you have there, Neville?"

"That's what I came to tell you about, Harry, since you helped out with it." Neville revealed. "Gran talked with Dennis and they wrote to me and Tori respectively and told us that a betrothal contract would be drawn up for us!"

"But I felt Neville should be the one to tell you that one, Harry." said Tori.

"I see." said Harry with realization.

"I ended up tagging along because I asked Neville if he knew where you were, Harry." stated Tracey.

"I was already headed this way anyway, Harry," said Neville. "So I thought helping you and Tracey out in some way would return the favour."

"Thank you, Neville," said Harry gratefully.

"Tracey and I did cross paths earlier. We kinda talked before she reported to Ancient Runes and she said that she and I ought to meet up again sometime. I never expected it to be so quickly."

"I figured a surprise would be fun, Harry." said Tracey, smiling at him (with Harry smiling back). "Neville and Tori even agreed to that!"

"Your plan did work, Tracey," stated Harry as he continued smiling at Tracey. "It brought a smile to my face."

"Tori and I will give you and Tracey some alone time, Harry." said Neville as Tori nodded her head in agreement.

So they walked away while holding hands. Not wanting to deal with any possible eavesdroppers, Harry called for Dobby to take him and Tracey back to Harry's makeshift quarters, to ensure that they had as much privacy as possible. Harry and Tracey spent the afternoon before dinner getting to know each other better (while Harry avoided talking about his pre-Hogwarts life, as he didn't feel ready to bring that up yet), but when dinner time finally arrived, the two would arrive in the Great Hall at different times (just so Harry's enemies wouldn't get suspicious).

/Scene break\

The day of the wand weighing ceremony for the tournament arrived (which was on the 13th of November). The real champions glared at Harry once he entered, but Harry ignored them and this rendered them shocked. Harry was surprised that Fleur managed to show herself this time despite the prank pulled on her, though she didn't have much of a choice. Dumbledore was eyeing Harry suspiciously, but Harry didn't so much as look at him. Even though Harry purchased his new wand just recently, Mr. Ollivander was obligated to check it and make sure it was still in good condition.

'What has gotten into Harry?' thought Albus once he spotted Harry's new wand. 'And when did he purchase that new wand? Harry rebelling wasn't part of the plan! Tonight, I'll speak with him.'

After the champions had their wands checked, it was time for the champions to have their individual pictures taken and then a group picture. Once that was done, a woman with red glasses, blonde hair in elaborate curls and green eyes that had a mischievous glint in them held a hand out.

"Hello, I am Rita Skeeter and I write for the Daily Prophet!" the woman introduced herself, shaking hands with each champion. Then she turned her attention to Harry. "I think starting with the youngest on the interviewing will do wonders!"

"No, I'm not doing any interview!" said Harry firmly.

"What?!" said Rita incredulously. "Come now, Harry! One, little question won't hurt."

"You think I'm gonna fall for that?!" asked Harry irritably. "I don't appreciate anybody secretly planning to use me as a publicity figure!"

"Harry, my boy," said Dumbledore, pretending to console him. "Surely you're just exaggerating."

"No, headmaster, I'm not." stated Harry.

"Just a few words, then?" begged Rita. "Surely, you have some you'd like to share!"

"Okay, I'll give you a couple words, Skeeter: _fuck off_!!" Harry angrily shouted in her face.

Then he turned around to storm out of the room, leaving everybody in the room speechless. Rita had a downhearted look on her face because her 'biggest article yet' just went out the window, but Harry didn't care one bit, he just continued on and left the room. Cedric, Viktor and Fleur eventually got their interviews finished and when lunchtime arrived, they told their respective fellow students and friends what Harry said to Rita. Pretty soon, word about Harry giving Rita the words that rendered everyone in the wand weighing ceremony speechless spread throughout the Great Hall. Ron looked stunned to hear about Harry's words for Rita, but his love for food overpowered his desire to really ask Harry. Hermione, however just rolled her eyes in exasperation that Harry had the nerve to say a word as bad as that to an adult. On the other hand, Ginny swooned and fell backward at the thought of her hero going off on the tirade at the notorious journalist. Fred, George and Lee laughed when they saw Ginny's reaction. As soon as they spotted Harry walking toward them, the three pranksters grinned.

"Nicely done, Harry!" Lee praised as he patted Harry's shoulders. "Not many people would have the nerve to stand up to Skeeter!"

"Which was out of fear of being slandered!" Fred and George chorused, then they looked down at their sister again. "Ickle Ginnykins did it again, fell head over heels for you!"

"As if living on false hope will get Ginevra anywhere!" said Harry as he faced Ginny laying on the ground while still in her trance, then he shook his head repeatedly in exasperation.

From over at the Slytherin table, Neville, Tori and Tracey were giggling when they witnessed Ginny falling backwards. Adrian and Daphne also saw it and they, too were laughing. Terence was watching Susan and he kept feeling his heartbeat the longer he kept her in his point of view. Blaise was having similar thoughts when he saw Luna sitting at the Ravenclaw, all alone.

'Is she really the right one for me?' thought the scion of House Zabini. 'Every time I try to approach Luna, I keep getting nervous and my heart beats uncontrollably! I wish I wouldn't get nervous and at the same time, get the courage to try and talk to her!'

The rest of lunch continued smoothly. After Harry left the Great Hall, he contemplated going outside until he spotted Professor McGonagall walking up to him.

"Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak with you, Mr. Potter." said the deputy headmistress.

"Unless he tells me himself," said Harry, making sure his voice had as much contempt as possible. "I have no use in going to…"

"I insist you go to Dumbledore's office immediately!" said Professor McGonagall adamantly, pointing to the direction.

"Fine!" snapped Harry, giving his head of house a glare. "But don't expect me to enjoy it or to be friendly with the ole coot. If he's going to do what I think, then I'm gonna regret even going!"

Professor McGonagall shook her head in disgust when Harry strolled away and over to Dumbledore's office. He didn't ask for the password because Harry knew that Dumbledore had very predictable passwords to activate the phoenix staircase leading up to the headmaster's office. The reason why Dumbledore's passwords were too predictable was because of his fondness for some muggle sweets, such as lemon drops (which Harry remembered on his first ever visit to the office because of the Dueling Club incident a couple years ago, where Harry was blamed for petrifying students). Harry finally reached the phoenix statue that led up to the door to the headmaster's office.

"Lemon drop!" Harry spoke to the statue, which didn't move. So he tried again, "Sherbert Lemon!"

The statue moved upward in a spiral manner. Once the moving stopped, Harry climbed the stairs and walked up to the door. Before he could knock, the door flew open as if it could sense when someone will knock on it. Upon walking into the office, Harry saw Professor Dumbledore sitting behind his desk with the grandfatherly smile on his face, and drumming the tips of the fingers on his hands against each other.

"Harry, my boy!" greeted the headmaster. Then he held a bowl of lemons drops out at Harry once he approached the desk. "Lemon drop?"

"No, I'm good." said Harry. "What did you want to see me for?"

"Part of that was what you said to Miss Skeeter and your refusal to have an interview, as it's part of the Triwizard Tournament tradition." said Professor Dumbledore. "Your behaviour since Halloween is the main reason why I called you here."

"Skeeter had that look on her face that she wanted more popularity for writing an article about me," said Harry irritably. "I can read people like a book, but I keep that to myself to avoid unnecessary attention."

"That may be, Harry, but refusing the interview wasn't an option." said Professor Dumbledore. "Now, I've been receiving numerous complaints about you calling teachers names, such as calling Professor Snape Snivellus or referring to him as a greasy git. You've also been referring to your head of house as Professor Caterwaul? Talking back to those teachers and threatening your fellow students with hexes, too? How do you explain your actions?"

"Much needed!" stated Harry. "Considering that I haven't had any help from those two and most of my fellow students have been treating me like hippogriff manure for most of my time here. Several of them have been persistent with that, such as Malfoy and his goons. They cause big trouble and every time I retaliate, either Professors Snape or McGonagall are right around the corner and who gets points taken away or gets any other unjust punishment? Me! It's like bullying is acceptable in this school!"

"Now Harry," Albus tried defending his school's reputation. "Let's not overreact! All of this is good for you, helps you stay isolated and keeps you protected."

"Are you sure that method even works?" Harry retorted (much to his headmaster's shock). "I've never had any real protection and I've spent almost as long as I could remember being isolated!"

"Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger and to a lesser extent, Miss Weasley have been with you." Dumbledore claimed. "And during the summer, you're protected at your relatives house."

"How so? They've been abusive and neglectful towards me!" stated Harry. "There's no way that counts as protection."

"Harry, I have my reasons." Dumbledore claimed.

"What kind of reasons?" asked Harry.

"I can't tell you, Harry," Dumbledore claimed again. "Not until you're older."

"Until I'm older?!" said Harry, outraged. "I'm fourteen and I had to grow up way faster than the average kid!"

"Harry, it isn't good to be irrational." said Albus.

"IRRATIONAL?!" Harry screamed out at the top of his lungs, making Dumbledore cower in fear. The screaming was loud enough to rattle the windows. "I'M NOT BEING IRRATIONAL, I'M BEING REASONABLE!!! THE WAY I'VE BEEN GETTING TREATED IS INEXCUSABLE, EVEN WHEN I TREAT EVERYBODY WITH RESPECT! YOU KNOW THAT RESPECT IS EARNED, NOT GIVEN, HEADMASTER!!! MY RELATIVES NEVER WANTED ME AND YOU KNOW THAT THEY'VE BEEN ABUSIVE TOWARD ME AND I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU DO SQUAT TO GET THEM TO STOP, YOU JUST SEND ME BACK THERE FOR NO REAL REASON! I'VE NEVER SEEN THAT PLACE AS HOME AND I NEVER WILL, UNDERSTOOD??!"

Harry saw the silver instruments on the headmaster's desk collapse and stop working. Albus was even more nervous when that happened because Harry witnessed it. The Greater Good wasn't supposed to happen this way, where did it all go wrong? Harry finding out about the silver instruments keeping track of him or anything related to him wasn't part of the plan.

"I rest my case!" said Harry triumphantly with a grin on his face, once he saw what happened to the silver instruments.

Then he turned around and left the headmaster's office. Albus was paste-white with fright at the realization that keeping Harry in line was going to be nearly impossible from now on.

'Maybe I can come up with a plan B.' thought Dumbledore. 'It's not too late, I know it isn't. There has to be something out there Harry can't refuse. Surprises are bound to intrigue him!'

Dumbledore had no knowledge that Harry was behind the pranks. Harry returned to his makeshift quarters to cool down (that way he wouldn't risk harming any of his true friends while he was still mad). His house elves provided him some butterbeer, since they knew how much Harry enjoyed drinking it. Harry decided some more pranks were necessary, so he started thinking up some more, good ones.

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: I'd like to give a shoutout to the anonymous reviewer 'Al bundy' for suggesting that Harry get called to Dumbledore's office and ripping the headmaster a new one.**


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: Like I've normally mentioned, I just own this fanfic. The rest goes to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 8: The End For The Daily Gossip**

It was 5:30 in the morning on Sunday, November 20th and the day of the first task was only four days away. Harry spent most of the next seven days either in his makeshift quarters or in the Room of Requirement. The only times the others had seen him were in classes. Harry never could find out what the first task would involve, even with his house elves' help. After getting up, Harry wrote a note for Tracey and called for Winky.

"Winky," said Harry, handing the note to her. "Would you give this to Tracey? Sneaking into the Slytherin common room to give it to her isn't an option and I can't risk putting her in harm's way."

"Yes, Winky will do what Harry Potter instructed!" Winky assured Harry dutifully.

She apparated away while Harry got a round table set up with two chairs on opposite sides. Then Harry got dressed (in an emerald-green long-sleeve t-shirt, dark-blue jeans and a pair on black tennis shoes with green stripes on them) so he could be ready for breakfast. After being told by Dobby (the other day, that was) that house elves can also do some shopping for their masters, Harry asked Oreo and Piper to purchase clothes for Harry that were his size. It was a few minutes later when Winky returned with Tracey (who also got dressed for breakfast). She was wearing a pair of dark-blue jeans, a forest-green long-sleeve polo shirt and her hair was down this time. She was also wearing a pair of green converse sneakers with silver stars on them.

"Thank you for inviting me to breakfast, Harry!" said Tracey gratefully, giving him a smile.

"You're welcome, Tracey!" Harry responded, smiling back at her. "I wanted to personally do so, but showing up in the Slytherin girls' dorms would've been trouble for me. I also didn't wanna risk putting you in harm's way or get you punished unjustly."

"Don't worry, Harry," assured Tracey in a soft voice. "I understand that you did what you had to do. Seeing that this is also a Hogsmeade weekend, we shouldn't be spotted together. Maybe we can walk around the woods later, that way we won't have to worry too much about the wrong people bothering us."

"Sounds good, Tracey." stated Harry.

The house elves returned moments later with breakfast for Harry and Tracey. In the Great Hall, the other students, teachers and foreign visitors were already eating. Dumbledore wasn't there sitting on the headmaster's chair, leaving his absence a mystery. Albus was still shocked by his silver instruments collapsing before Harry's eyes and his arms and legs just didn't seem to want to cooperate. Once breakfast ended, Neville and Tori headed outside, intending to find Harry and Tracey. They searched for ten minutes without any luck before stopping for a break. Neville and Tori whipped their wands out when they heard footsteps approaching. They saw that it was Ginny and when she spotted them, she began walking up to them with a desperate look on her face. Neville rolled his eyes in exasperation while Tori glared at the Weasley girl.

"Neville, I need your help!" Ginny claimed. "I've been looking for Harry, but he's nowhere to be found! Could you talk to him and see if…"

"Leave us alone, weaselette!" growled Tori. "We don't appreciate you butting in in our alone time!"

"I don't believe we were speaking, snake!" Ginny retorted. Then she turned her attention back to Neville. "Do you think you can talk to Harry for me? He won't notice me!"

"That ain't my problem, Ginevra." said Neville. "Everybody knows you only want Harry for his Boy-Who-Lived fame, so quit harassing him. He'll never be interested in you, so it's time for you to move on."

"Yeah, that's a good one, Neville." said Ginny sarcastically, assuming Neville was joking. Then she continued on in an irritable voice. "It's not nice to ruin a girl's dream here."

"It's no joke, Ginevra." stated Neville. "Wait until he tells you himself, then you'll see."

Ginny tried to fight her near-approaching hysterical state. Then she stomped up to Neville and smacked him hard, across the face in retaliation for being called by her given name and for Neville 'making up lies.' The smack caused Neville to stagger backwards and almost made him lose his balance. As he recovered and started aiming his wand, Neville saw Tori punch Ginny near her left eye with her right fist, then she punched the Weasley girl in the jaw with her left fist. Then Tori grabbed Ginny by her shirt collar and yanked her close to her face with a nasty look on her face.

"You ever touch Neville again, weaselette," warned Tori in a dangerous voice, through gritted teeth. "And you won't get off so easily! I may even make sure you get sent to St. Mungo's, understood?"

Ginny could only nod her head uneasily. Her face around her left eye began swelling, along with a blackening eye. Ginny was also unable to talk because her jaw was in alot pain from the punch and every time she tried, the pain would return and make her wince. The force of the first punch also made Ginny somewhat dizzy and she wobbled away. Once Ginny was out of sight, Tori went to check on Neville and saw a handprint across his left cheek. Then she kissed his left cheek to make it feel better, making Neville smile and blush.

"Thank you, Tori!" Neville whispered gratefully.

"You're welcome, Neville!" Tori whispered back as she gave him a hug.

The two resumed their search for Harry and Tracey. Concurrently, they were walking through the woods. Harry and Tracey were holding hands while they were looking all around enjoying nature. Every time they'd give each other eye contact, it would make them blush. Tracey even mentioned that she was a half-blood like Harry. As they continued walking in the woods, Harry and Tracey were even discussing different animals in the muggle world.

"Uh, Tracey," said Harry as he looked at her leg and spotted something. "You have a beetle on your leg."

Tracey looked down and saw a beetle crawling up her left thigh. This made her scream like crazy and brush herself in a frenzy. Harry jumped back a little in mild fright since Tracey's scream was a little too loud. She even squished the 'beetle' to smithereens, as if it were a disease that needed to be eliminated. Tracey continued brushing herself crazy, making sure that no other bugs were walking all over her. While the way Tracey was screaming and brushing herself appeared to be comical, Harry didn't laugh (believing that Tracey may have a fear of bugs). He didn't want to hurt her feelings for laughing and risk ruining his friendship with her. Tracey put her hands on her legs and took some deep breaths in an attempt to relax. Once she felt relaxed, she stood up straight and looked at Harry.

"Sorry about that!" Tracey apologized in a sheepish voice. "I hate bugs and have hated them since I was seven."

"I did guess that one," stated Harry. "Which was why I didn't laugh."

"Thank you for that, Harry," said Tracey gratefully. "The reason I hate bugs was when my parents invited Daph and her family with us and we took a vacation to New Zealand. One day during that vacation, we were hiking in a forest and we stopped for a lunch break and a bug landed on my right shoulder. Upon looking down at my right shoulder, the bug happened to be a giant weta, the world's largest insect. They're like giant crickets and it's face was close to my face and that made me scream in hysterics and brush it off of my shoulder."

"Can this giant weta fly?" asked Harry.

"No, they're too big for that." stated Tracey. "When that one landed on my shoulder, it may have been walking on a tree branch above me and lost it's balance, resulting in it falling off and landing on my shoulder."

"I see." said Harry in understanding. "Did it also make you… cry?"

"Yes, since it scared me." Tracey admitted. "Mum and dad even spent like fifteen minutes taking turns trying to get me to calm down. We did resume the hike, Daph and Tori even helped out in comforting me. The giant weta landing on my shoulder was enough for me to look up into the trees to be on the lookout and make sure no more bugs would land on me."

"Almost similar to Ronald's arachnophobia," said Harry. "The only difference is that bugs are insects and spiders are arachnids."

"Yes, and insects have six legs while arachnids have eight." said Tracey. Then she gave Harry a hug (making him flinch a little, but then he hugged her back). "Thank you for being patient and listening to my reasons for my hatred of bugs."

"You're welcome, Tracey." said Harry.

Then the two teens started walking around the woods again while holding hands. They didn't pay any attention to the 'beetle' that Tracey smooshed. Neither Harry, nor Tracey had any idea that the smooshed 'beetle' was an animagi (with parts of the red markings over it's face being barely visible). That also meant that it was Rita Skeeter in her animagus form and she finally received her comeuppance for slander when Tracey squished her. As they continued walking, Harry started wondering if it would be fair to open up to Tracey about his Pre-Hogwarts life with the Dursleys (though, he wasn't quite sure if he was ready for it yet).

Meanwhile in a semi-remote corridor of the castle, Adrian and Daphne were having a snogging session when they heard somebody breathing in a nervous state. They stopped snogging and went to investigate. They saw that it was Terence, walking all stiff in the legs and they knew why he was all nervous (he was sweating profusely and his heartbeat was loud enough for Adrian and Daphne to hear).

"You alright, Terence?" asked Adrian.

"Uh, huh!" Terence nervously replied, his arms and legs trembling. "I tried, again to approach Susan and introduce myself to her, but I kept getting nervous and my legs just seemed to prevent me from walking closer to her. It'd feel like they were filling up with jello."

"It'll be alright, Terence." assured Adrian, giving Terence a comforting pat on his shoulders. "If you keep practicing, you'll get the courage to talk to her."

"Yeah, just give it some time." Daphne advised in an encouraging voice. "If you get nervous again, try taking some deep breaths. That'll help you relax."

"Thanks alot, you two," said Terence gratefully. "One of the reasons I'd get nervous is the fear of accidentally saying the wrong thing. Not only that, but some of our fellow Slytherins try to make it seem like the easiest solutions work the best. Malfoy in particular would make up all those lies, since he'd 'demonstrate' it by antagonizing Tori."

"At least you have a conscience, Terence." stated Daphne. "Anytime the ferret even tried his so called demonstrations on Tori, she'd pound him good."

"Despite that, Malfoy never learns his lesson, instead going for that 'wait till my father hears about this' defence." said Terence with contempt in his voice, directed at Draco. "His father even bribed the quidditch team with those Nimbus 2001 brooms that resulted in me getting kicked off and replaced, unjustly!"

"The ferret is starting to receive some of his comeuppance," stated Adrian. "With those pranks he's been the victim of. He'd better learn his lesson fast before Harry does something like press charges against him."

"Yeah, Tori even told me and Tracey about Harry being the head of House Potter now," said Daphne. "So the ferret is no longer protected by bribery or any teachers who favour him or simply ignore his actions."

"Yes." said Terence. "Well, I'll let you and Adrian go back to what you were doing. I'd better practice on approaching Susan and try to introduce myself, so I can get to know her."

"Alright. Good luck, Terence!" said Adrian and Daphne in unison.

"Thank you!" said Terence gratefully.

Meanwhile, Harry was wandering the grounds. He and Tracey had finished their walk in the woods. They had to enter at different times to keep Harry's enemies at bay. When he was out in the courtyard, Draco and his goons (with evil grins on their faces) approached Harry to get another rise out of him.

"Well lookie here!" sneered Draco. "If it isn't potty without his weasel sidekick and beaver-toothed mudblood…"

_BLAST!_

Harry whipped his wand out and non-verbally cast a banishing spell on the Malfoy scion, with a speed so fast that Draco barely saw it coming. He hit a nearby wall with a force enough to knock him out cold. His goons actually backed away in utter fear, terrified that Harry would do the same.

"MR. POTTER!" shouted Professor McGonagall when she showed up to investigate. "That's fifty points from Gryffindor for…"

"I think you mean fifty from Slytherin." Harry retorted, interrupting his head of house in the process. "You saw Malfoy using that wretched name."

"Okay, fifty more points for putting words into my mouth and interrupting a teacher, and a months worth of detention." said the deputy headmistress.

"There you go again, professor," said Harry, his voice filled with as much contempt as possible. "Allowing the wrongdoers to get away with their actions and unjustly punishing the victims! A school is supposed to be a safe learning environment, not a place where bad behaviour is allowed, especially to the stupid point where the victims have to keep a constant watch over their backs. As deputy head, you should've been doing your job properly. You also wasted time 'assigning' detentions to me because I ain't doing them since my actions were justified. In case you haven't heard, you were on the list of potential guardians who could look after me should something happen to my parents, and you were mentioned to have been my dad's godmother. What would mum and dad think if they found out and/or witnessed you treating me the way you have since my first year? They'd be pretty upset, don't you think? Instead of trusting the ole coot blindly, trust your intuition from here on out! Dumbledore manipulates people to do his work for him and never shows up to help anybody until the last _possible_ second. No wonder Hogwarts' reputation has been exceptionally low for a long time! I can't even look at you, that's how mad I _am_ with you!"

Harry walked off, leaving Professor McGonagall utterly stumped. She widened her eyes and put a hand over her mouth, finally realizing how much she failed Harry since shortly after his first-ever arrival. The other passing students were also shocked to see Harry go off on another tirade, this time on Professor McGonagall. The deputy headmistress started heading back to her office once she felt sensation in her legs returning. She also got the picture with the fact that Harry would never forgive her due to failing him so many times. Professor McGonagall also felt her stomach twist in fright at the thought of Lily and James confronting her over ignoring Harry's complaints and leaving him on his own. The head of Gryffindor House even knew about Lily's fiery-hot temper, the one she never wanted to be on the receiving end of.

'I really should've listened to Mr. Potter in his times of need!' thought Professor McGonagall sadly. 'I knew I was there when Albus placed him with the Dursleys. Trying to reason with Albus wouldn't have been enough even if I succeeded, I should've taken Harry to a loving and caring family after he left. Now Mr. Potter will never see me as an honourary god-grandmother. I also, in a way failed Lily and James. The only thing now is to just leave Mr. Potter alone and only deal with him when and if it's absolutely necessary. Many of the punishments he received were definitely undeserved!'

As she walked into her office, Professor McGonagall cast some locking charms and privacy wards on the door. Then she sat down at her desk and put her head down into her arms, too ashamed of herself.

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: Initially, I thought about having the first task happen in this chapter, but I didn't have any luck coming up with the right idea. If any of you have any good ideas for the first task, don't hesitate to let me know. Happy reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: Like I've normally stated, I just own this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns the rest, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 9: Realizations**

Harry ended up eating lunch in his makeshift quarters. Word about his going off on that tirade at Professor McGonagall was spreading and Dumbledore inevitably got wind of it. He was panicking inward because that meant that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement could get involved if Amelia found out that he placed Harry with the Dursleys. Harry may not have had a very good childhood before Hogwarts, but it was necessary for him to go back. The Dursleys abusing him had to be an exaggeration and just Harry trying to back out of fulfilling the Greater Good. The silver instruments collapsing like that wasn't supposed to have happened. Dumbledore _did_ try to get them repaired, but nothing worked. He couldn't accept the fact that the truth had been slammed into his face.

Word about Draco getting knocked out cold by Harry's banishing charm was also spreading. The ferret's goons were talking about it after he was taken to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey cast some diagnostic and medical testing charms, and the results revealed that Malfoy suffered a concussion. Draco had to stay in the hospital wing for a week as a result of it (which also meant that he would be missing out on watching the first task). Pansy was all distraught to see Draco in the condition he was currently in and she spent most of her time by his bedside at the hospital wing and she even decided to sacrifice watching the first task in order to stay by his side. Back in his makeshift quarters, Harry finished eating and was researching different spells (since he still had yet to find out what the first task would be). Half an hour after lunch ended, Dobby and Oreo apparated in with stunned looks on their faces.

"Harry Potter, sir," Dobby began informing. "Headmasters Dumbledore was talking about dragons beings used for the first task with the other heads of the visiting schools and the international sports peoples."

"Oreo and Dobby were boths inside the office while invisible," stated Oreo. "One dragons for each champions."

"Has the ole coot gone mad?!" asked an outraged Harry. "Dragons are dangerous creatures! What was he thinking?"

"Somethings about testing courage." said Dobby. "The visiting heads are bound to inform their champions."

"Figures!" said Harry in exasperation. "I'm always the one who is never offered help or clues, while everyone else gets all that! Nowadays, I'll only accept help from friends and adults who have earned my respect."

Dobby and Oreo helped Harry in looking for spells that could be useful against dragons. Dobby also went to get a certain potion for Harry that could also be helpful. Back in the Great Hall, lunch progressed with the student body still talking about McGonagall getting ripped a new one by Harry. Neville and Tori were sitting by Fred, George and Lee at the Gryffindor table. Neville was now determined to stay away from Ginny (whose left eye was still black) because of her smacking him across the face. Fred and George saw Neville looking over at their sister and went to sit next to Lee, where he couldn't see or be seen by Ginny.

"Neville, what happened?" asked the Gryffindor pranksters with concern in their voices.

"Gin.. Gin… Ginevra!" Neville stuttered in a frightened voice. "She sm-smacked m-m-me across the f-fa-ace!"

"Ickle Ginnykins really smacked you?!" asked Fred and George in unison.

"She did!" Tori confirmed. "So I defended Neville's honour by punching her in the jaw and in the face and strongly warned her not to do it again."

"Now we understand why she has that black eye." said the twins in understanding, when they looked over at their sister. "Mum won't be too happy with her for that for committing assault and battery on the scion of House Longbottom."

"Now I'm afraid of heading back to Gryffindor Tower, where I'll inevitably be closer to her vicinity." said Neville.

"You could inform Harry of your dilemma." Fred and George suggested. "But we have no clue where he's been staying ever since he left Gryffindor Tower. We'll confront Ickle Ginnykins for smacking you once lunchtime is over."

"Thank you!" said Neville gratefully.

Once lunch ended, Neville and Tori went outside while Fred, George and followed Ginny (who was accompanying Ron and Hermione) to see where she was going. It turned out that Ginny, Ron and Hermione were walking over to Harry's favourite spot by the Black Lake, hoping he was there. The twins whipped their wands out and (with careful aim), they cast a spell on Ginny's shoes to keep her in place, much to her shock, and Ron's and Hermione's confusions. As soon as they spotted the Gryffindor pranksters marching up to them, Ron and Hermione backed away when they saw the not-so-pleased looks on their faces.

"What is it?" Ginny asked her twin brothers, once they (and Lee) walked into her point of view.

"Why did you smack Neville in the face?" asked the twins adamantly.

"Well, he kept making up stupid lies!" Ginny snapped.

"Don't be silly!" Fred and George retorted. "He wouldn't do that and you know it!"

"Well, you weren't there!" Ginny tried defending her actions. "Neville wouldn't quit with his stupid remarks about Harry never being interested in me."

Fred, George and Lee retaliated by casting charms on Ginny that caused her to levitate into the air. Then Lee cast a charm on a nearby tree branch that had rope conjured on it. Then the conjured rope began tying Ginny's wrists, leaving her hanging fifteen feet above the ground. Ginny gave Ron and Hermione pleading looks for help, but neither helped her. Instead, they just kept their distance and let Fred, George, and Lee do their form of punishment. Ginny couldn't believe that Ron and Hermione weren't helping her in getting the pranksters off her back. Then the Weasley girl felt her jaw drop open in shock when Ron and Hermione began walking back toward the entrance. Fred, George and Lee started walking back to the castle themselves (not too far behind Ron and Hermione), just as Ginny tried to free herself and kept ranting on and on about life being 'unfair' and that Harry continued 'ignoring' her. The pranksters were taken aback when they heard Ron and Hermione talking.

"It was my fault, wasn't it," Ron wondered out loud. "That Harry's been distancing himself?"

"To a great extent, yes," stated Hermione. "It was also my fault I lost him as a friend. I should've stayed by his side, but I've been showing him my ungrateful side."

"Somehow, it doesn't seem like Harry will ever forgive us." Ron realized.

"Pretty much," said Hermione in a matter-of-fact voice. "He takes trust _very_ seriously and we broke that when we turned our backs on him."

"That also means that Fred, George and Lee are better people than us." said Ron. "If they believed Harry to be innocent, then we should've done that."

"While I never said that Harry was guilty, I never spoke up in his defence," said Hermione. "So he even took that as betrayal. That recent tirade of his at Professor McGonagall made me realize the hard way how correct he was."

"So we didn't really know Harry as well as we thought." said Ron. "Now we lost something that we can't get back. I've been on the receiving end of Ginny's threats to use that bat bogey hex and I'm getting tired of it, that also made me realize what all I ended up losing. Ginny thinks I ruined her chances to be Harry's girlfriend and eventual wife."

"She never had that chance in the first place, Ron," stated Hermione. "He once told me that he would never see Ginny as a potential romantic partner. Harry even said that he didn't want to put his then friendship with you in jeopardy. He also didn't want to do the same to his friendships with Fred and George."

"Wow, I didn't realize that part." said Ron in understanding. "Harry always saw her as a little sister. Me being selfish must've been another reason that cost me my friendship with Harry. I kept getting jealous of his fame, but reality finally hit me hard that Harry despised it."

"That's right, Ron." said Fred and George as they (and Lee) caught up with them. "Every time Harry was dragged into the spotlight against his will, he always wanted to leave the room he was in."

"I really should've paid careful attention to that." Ron admitted. "So I guess that Slytherin girl who I saw sometimes talking to Harry and Neville, she was also better than Hermione and I."

"Astoria Greengrass, or Tori for short, was who that was," stated Fred, George and Lee. "She and Neville are dating. She's become one of Harry's closest friends. There are more decent Slytherins after all. If you remember those pranks pulled on Malfoy and his kind, half of their housemates were unaffected."

"I guess I let myself be blindsided by that." stated Ron. "I thought they were all like Malfoy and his lackeys."

"What defines a person is the choices they make," Hermione reminded Ron. "It doesn't matter which house one is in or what their abilities are."

Ron nodded his head to show he understood. The Gryffindor pranksters were impressed with Ron and Hermione finally seeing the light in their actions. They knew Harry still wouldn't forgive them, something Ron and Hermione were slowly coming to grips with. Meanwhile, Harry was wandering the grounds since he knew being cooped up in one place for long periods wasn't good. He was under his invisibility cloak, just so the wrong people wouldn't spot him. He strolled by the tree where Ginny was still hanging from one of the branches, courtesy of conjured rope. Harry saw that she was ranting on and on about 'her' Harry ignoring her and how life was unfair while struggling to free herself.

"What did Ginny do?" Harry quietly asked himself when he spotted her black eye. "Did she bite off more than she could chew by picking a fight?"

Having decided that he didn't care, Harry tiptoed away (making sure the invisibility cloak was still secured over himself). It was ten minutes later when he came across Neville and Tori over by a spot in the woods Harry guessed may have been their favourite secret spot. Harry widened his eyes in concern when he saw Tori appearing to do her best to comfort Neville. So Harry pulled his cloak off and started walking toward Neville and Tori.

"Hi Harry!" Neville and Tori greeted when they spotted him approaching them. "You're the first to discover our secret spot! Are you doing alright?"

"Yeah, a little bit." said Harry. "What happened?"

"Well, earlier today," Neville explained. "Ginevra tried to compel me into talking to you for her because of those claims of you ignoring her. Then Tori warned her to leave us alone, which was ignored. When I reminded Ginevra that you would never be interested in her, she just assumed it was all a joke and said it wasn't nice to ruin a girl's dreams, even though I was explaining the truth."

"Then the weaselette smacked Neville across the face to 'teach him a lesson for lying,' which was how she put it." said Tori, with contempt directed at Ginny. "As soon as I saw what she did, I punched the weaselette in the face and then her jaw before yanking her close to my face and warning her not to do that again."

"That smack made me all scared to even go near Ginevra again," said Neville, trying to keep his nervousness in check. "And returning to Gryffindor Tower will make that likely to happen."

"Don't blame yourself for that, Neville," Harry advised as he put an arm around his shoulder in a comforting manner. "Ginevra is just hot-tempered, a huge difficulty in keeping her cool. I can help you with the problem."

"Really?" said Neville, feeling hopeful.

Harry nodded his head to confirm it, then he called for Oreo and Piper. Harry instructed Piper to escort Tori to his makeshift quarters, and instructed Oreo to escort himself and Neville there. Once they were all in, Harry instructed Piper to ask Tracey if she wanted to come back to the quarters. So Piper disappeared and returned with Tracey a minute or so later.

"So you've been here most of your time?" Neville asked Harry.

"Yes," stated Harry. "Tracey was the first to visit, since I invited her here for breakfast this morning. Since this part of the seventh floor is isolated, I used this abandoned classroom and, with my house elves' help, we got this fixed up into a makeshift quarters since I was on the verge of being kicked out of Gryffindor Tower."

"Do you practice different spells too, Harry?" asked Tori.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Harry admitted. "My male house elves, Oreo and Dobby told me at lunch time that the first task involves dragons, one for each champion."

"What?!" exclaimed Neville, Tori and Tracey in unison.

"Yeah, they told me about eavesdropping in on Dumbledore, the heads of the foreign schools and the members of the Ministry's Department of Magical Games and Sports." stated Harry. "I've been spending quite a bit of time looking up and practicing different spells, since dragons don't go down easily."

"You'll need all the help you can get, Harry." said Neville, Tori and Tracey. "If you'd like, we'll help!"

"I appreciate the offer." said Harry as a smile formed on his face. Then he turned toward Tracey. "Won't Daphne get worried about you not showing up for dinner this evening?"

"Probably, but I always let her know when I can," Tracey assured. "At the same time, she'll probably want some alone time with Adrian."

Harry nodded his hand to show that he understood. While he did like his initial plan, he was going to wait first, just in case if Neville, Tori and/or Tracey had some better ideas. The makeshift quarters also had a training room for practice for the tournament, which was where the quartet headed off to. When dinnertime finally approached, they stopped training to eat. The house elves made sure the teens had their fill of dinner.

"The spell practicing was tiring, but worth it." said Harry with determination in his voice. "But, I should take that easy."

"Yeah, it's never good to go too fast." stated Tracey. Then she suggested, "Maybe some music we can dance to might help take our minds off of the first task."

Harry, Neville and Tori nodded their heads in approval. So Tracey conjured up a record player and put on some classical music. Harry was a little hesitant to dance with Tracey when she offered due to concerns of accidentally stepping on her toes. She gently led Harry toward the middle of the living room, with a smile on her face (which told Harry that she wouldn't mind). Twice he did accidentally step on her toes, making Harry apologize profusely. Tracey softly assured him it wasn't a big deal, allowing Harry to relax and just have fun. Occasionally, they'd switch so Neville would dance with Tracey and Harry with Tori. All too soon, curfew was approaching, so Harry and his house elves got a bedroom for Neville conjured. Dobby went to get Neville's belongings to place them there. Tori gave Harry and Neville a hug (and also gave Neville a gently kiss on his cheek). Tracey even did the same (but she gave Harry a gentle kiss on his cheek). Both boys were blushing, then Winky and Piper escorted Tori and Tracey respectively back to their respective bedrooms in the Slytherin girls' dormitory. The four teens eventually fell asleep with smiles on their faces.

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: The first task is getting closer. If any of you have suggestions on what Harry can do against his dragon, don't hesitate to let me know. Happy reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: Like I've normally brought up, I just own this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns the rest, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 10: Cold Tactics**

It was the evening before the first task and Harry was just finishing up another training session with Neville, Tracey and Tori. Anytime Harry would make progress with a blizzard spell, he'd get praised for it (especially from Tracey). Since the training session had cut into a few minutes of dinnertime, the four students opted to stay in Harry's private quarters (with Harry's house elves getting the meals ready). Once the house elves came back with food, Harry, Neville, Tracey and Tori gathered around the dining table and sat down to eat.

"Shall we wear warm clothing at the first task tomorrow?" asked Tori jokingly.

"We will need to do that anyway." said Neville, playing along with it.

"At least I have some backup plans if the blizzard spell doesn't do much to immobilize the dragon I'm bound to face." stated Harry.

"I can already imagine many people tomorrow dropping their jaws open in shock to see the blizzard spell!" Tracey responded while trying to suppress her giggles. "It'll be their loss though, since they all believed Harry to be a glory hound."

Harry, Neville and Tori began laughing with Tracey when they, too imagined it. It made eating harder because they didn't want to risk choking on their food. By that time, dinner time in the Great Hall was over and everybody started heading back to their respective common rooms while the foreign guests returned to either the Beauxbatons carriage or the Durmstrang ship. Back in Gryffindor Tower, Ron, Dean and Seamus were looking dumbstruck not just because Harry wasn't there, but Neville was also absent. Ron climbed back downstairs into the common room and spotted Hermione on a nearby armchair, waiting for him.

"It's not _just_ Harry, but Neville hasn't returned, either." Ron told Hermione.

"I don't really blame him, after what Ginny did to him the other day." said Hermione, unaware that Ginny was close by and listening to the conversation. "Maybe he's over where Harry may have been sleeping since shortly after Halloween."

"Yeah, Neville must be scared to be in Ginny's presence again." Ron deduced. "I remember seeing him trying to keep his distance from her and sit with Fred, George and Lee. I'm actually impressed with Astoria coming to Neville's defence."

"Me, too!" said Hermione. "I've even heard about Ginny confronting her over the black eye."

"That's because that snake has such a hot temper!" snapped Ginny as she made her way over to Ron and Hermione. "If Neville wouldn't have been making up those stupid lies and trying to ruin my dreams, I wouldn't have needed to smack him in the face."

"Your point?" asked Ron, choosing to ignore the rant.

"My point is, Neville knows that Harry is mine, but he still lied to me anyway by claiming that Harry would never be interested in me!" Ginny whined. "It ain't my fault that Neville's all scared of me!"

"Then who's fault is it?!" asked Hermione in an irritable voice.

"His!" Ginny claimed.

"Actually, it _was_ your fault, Ginny," stated Ron. "Neville _was_ telling the truth. The reason Harry doesn't notice you is because he was unwilling to risk betraying his friendship with Fred and George. He didn't want to do the same to me, but I let my jealousy get to me and now I'm paying the price for turning my back on him."

"Like I've told you for the umpteenth time, Harry will _never_ be interested in you, Ginny," Hermione tried reminding the Weasley girl. "It's time for you to move on!"

"LIES! ALL LIES!" yelled Ginny in a shrilly voice. "Mum and dad said that Harry and I were meant to be!"

"Those were stories mum and dad would tell you, Ginny." Ron reminded his sister.

With tears stinging the edge of her eyes, Ginny walked up to Ron and smacked him across the face for 'making up lies' before stomping her way upstairs to the girls' dormitories. Ron winced because of the stinging pain coming from his cheek while Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation.

'When will she ever accept that Harry will never be interested in her?' thought Hermione.

/Scene break\

The next day after lunch was over, everybody began heading for the stadium where the first task was going to take place. Neville, Tracey and Tori accompanied Harry over to the tent where the champions were supposed to wait. Before Harry walked in, he and Neville gave each other bro hugs. Then Harry got a hug from Tori and Tracey (who gave Harry a big one).

"Good luck, Harry!" chorused Neville, Tracey and Tori simultaneously.

"Thank you!" Harry responded in a grateful tone of voice.

Then Neville, Tracey and Tori went to join the rest in the spectator stands while Harry walked inside the champions' tent. Cedric, Viktor and Fleur looked over at Harry with indifference, but otherwise, they didn't say or do anything to Harry (not wanting to risk getting pranked, which would've been a second time in Fleur's case). It was another ten to fifteen minutes later when the judges and other heads of schools came inside to give the champions the heads up of the first task.

"Alright," Ludo Bagman began explaining. "This task will be testing your courage, in the form of facing a dragon, one for each champion." Harry saw that none of the other champions reacted with fear, implying that they found out ahead of time themselves.

"You will also reach into this bag and pull out a miniature version of the dragon you will face, with the number on it to determine which champion will go first." stated Barty Crouch Sr, holding a bag up. Then he held the bag out in front of Fleur. "Ladies first!"

"The dragons will be guarding a golden egg that you must retrieve," Ludo informed the champions. "Without it, you won't be able to figure out the clue for the second task."

Fleur reached in and pulled out the Common Welsh Green (with the number 2 on it). The bag was passed to Viktor, who pulled out the Chinese Fireball (with the number 3 on it). Cedric pulled out the Swedish Short-Snout (which had number 1 on it) while Harry (rolling his eyes in anticipation) pulled out the Hungarian Horntail (with number 4 on it). Argus fired a cannon to signal the start of the task, with Cedric walking out into the stadium while the other champions waited inside the tent.

'I wonder why that Skeeter woman hasn't published any of those lies for a while?' wondered Harry.

It took Cedric five to ten minutes to retrieve his golden egg. He managed to accomplish it by tranfiguring a rock into a dog to distract it. Fleur was the second champion to go and she retrieved her egg by enchanting her dragon to sleep (but during it's sleep, it shot a jet of flames that set Fleur's skirt on fire, forcing her to extinguish it). Viktor was the next one up and he managed to use a conjunctivitis charm to blind his dragon and successfully retrieved his golden egg (though, the dragon smashed some of her eggs, which resulted in Viktor losing some points). The cannon was fired for the fourth time to signal the start of Harry's turn to retrieve his golden egg. Harry stepped out into the stadium and started walking toward the golden egg, only for the Hungarian Horntail to lunge toward him (forcing him to stop in his tracks). The dragon started roaring ferociously at Harry, then he pointed his wand and started waving it back and forth a few times.

"_Blizzio Fichina!_" Harry chanted, once he aimed his wand towards the dragon.

Then a blizzard spell started shooting out of his wand, much to the crowd's surprise. The Hungarian Horntail was quickly engulfed in the blizzard, the cold making it shiver. After about five minutes, the dragon fell into a deep sleep because of the cold overtaking it's body. Harry remembered reading about reptiles in primary school and that they were cold-blooded creatures (which meant that their body temperature depends on the outside temperature). Once the hungarian horntail fell into it's deep sleep, Harry quickly made a beeline toward the eggs and grabbed the golden egg and quickly made his way back to the champions' tent. The majority of the spectators (especially the adults) were left dumbstruck by Harry's choice in the spell he used against the Hungarian Horntail.

'Where did Harry learn that spell?' thought Dumbledore in utter shock.

After making it back inside the tent, Madam Pomfrey checked over Harry for any injuries (even though he didn't sustain any). There was quite a bit of commotion in the spectator stands, the discussion about the blizzard spell used was quickly becoming the top discussion. Before Harry could leave the tent to meet up with Neville, Tracey and Tori, Ron and Hermione entered the tent and gave Harry remorseful looks.

"Yes?" asked Harry neutrally (unaware that Ginny was waiting outside).

"Well, we just came to admit that you were right all along, Harry!" said Hermione in an apologetic tone. "I was being ungrateful when you tried defending my honour. I really should've paid attention to you and stay by your side."

"Same here, Harry," said Ron, equally apologetic. "I know I let my jealousy get to me, and it made me realize what all I lost. I should've been by your side."

"Well," said Harry, thinking it over. "I'm impressed that you both admitted your mistakes. It's too late to repair our friendship, but we can still be civil."

"We understand." assured Ron and Hermione in unison, nodding their heads to confirm it.

"And if Ginny thinks that I'll be interested in her," Harry reminded Ron and Hermione. "That answer will always be no. She needs to understand that her fangirl behaviour will always be a turn-off for me. Not only that, but she also must understand that I'm not willing to put my friendships with Fred, George, Bill and Charlie in jeopardy."

"We actually did try telling her, but she always ignores that." said Ron. "Ginny even claims that you just need to understand that she'll be the best one for you."

"Not a chance." said Harry firmly (but politely). "She'll never get that chance."

Ron and Hermione nodded their heads to show that they understood. As she waited outside and listened to the conversation, Ginny felt tears stinging the edge of her eyes and her throat constricting with emotion (trying to hold it back). However, she still refused to believe Harry's words.

'Harry loves me, he knows it deep down!' thought Ginny. 'He just needs more time to figure it out! I'll just wait until he finally admits it!'

In spite of her refusal to believe that Harry would never be interested in her, tears were still stinging the edges of Ginny's eyes. She wandered away without waiting for Ron and Hermione to finish their talk with Harry.

"Harry loves me!" Ginny muttered to herself, determined to see to it that her dreams would eventually come true. "I know he'll come to realize it! Just a little more time and I can prove Ron and Hermione wrong! Everybody better marks my words!"

"Ginny, what's wrong?" asked a familiar voice. It turned out to be her brother, Charlie.

"Harry won't notice me, Charlie!" Ginny whined as she looked up and saw her brother, more tears beginning to form. "He even claimed to Ron and Hermione that he would never be interested in me!"

"Welcome to the world, Ginny." said Charlie in a matter-of-fact voice. "Harry even told Bill and myself the same thing he told Ron and Hermione. There are plenty of other boys out there. Mum and dad only told you those stories to get you to fall asleep. But it's time to quit living in a fantasy and start accepting reality."

"What?!" Ginny exclaimed, becoming more hysterical.

"Like I said, Ginny," Charlie explained. "It's time to live in the now and move on. The _real_ Harry and the Boy-Who-Lived are completely two, different people. You know mum and dad would be upset with you for exhibiting this behaviour of yours."

"So you're starting in on me, too?!" Ginny shrieked as tears started flowing down her face. "Fred and George have been at it, and recently Ron and Hermione began joining in on it, too! Everybody knows that Harry is mine and mine only! They're all confunded to believe otherwise, I just know it! Harry has always been the only one for me, and always will be! Mark my words, Harry will eventually notice me, then it'll prove everyone wrong!" Ginny stomped away in tears while Charlie rolled his eyes in exasperation.

'She'll come around!' he thought to himself.

So he continued back over to the stadium to help the other dragonologists in caging the dragons and then take them back to Romania. Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione finished their talk with Harry and left the tent. Harry and the other champions still had to wait for the points to be announced. To his surprise, Harry was in the lead with 48 points (all the judges had given him ten, except for Igor Karkaroff, the Durmstrang champion. He had given Harry only eight), Cedric was in second with 45, Viktor in third with 42, while Fleur was in dead last with 36. Harry spotted Neville, Tracey and Tori running in. Neville patted Harry's shoulders while Tori gave him a hug. Tracey actually ran up to Harry and jumped up off her feet as she threw her arms around Harry (who also hugged her and started spinning around and making Tracey's feet swing around in circles).

"You did an excellent job, Harry!" said Tracey ecstatically. "That Durmstrang headmaster was being biased, giving you only eight when you should've gotten a perfect!"

"At least I'm in first and that I made it out alive." said Harry.

"Yeah, that's true," said Tracey. "Alot of the others continue to talk about it."

"We didn't let on to anybody that we were helping you, Harry." said Neville. "Tori and I even looked up where Malfoy's goons were and they were disappointed that you survived."

"The ferret even had some bet going on with his father," stated Tori. "Daph, Tracey and I heard him claiming that you wouldn't last five minutes while Lucius betted that you wouldn't last ten. It looks like they both lost the bet, since you survived the task, Harry."

"Malfoy and Parkinson were the only ones out of those Slytherins to be absent," Tracey told Harry. "Which was Malfoy's fault for using that derogatory word in front on you."

"Yeah, I may not be friends with Granger anymore," said Harry. "But that doesn't mean I'll continue to be mean to her. She and Ronald even admitted to me that they were wrong and I was right, before the points were announced. I even assured that I'll be civil towards them."

"At least they admitted their actions," said Neville. "And now they're coming to grips of the consequences they're suffering."

Harry, Tracey and Tori nodded their heads in agreement. The four teens left the tent and over to Neville and Tori's secret spot in the woods. Neither Professor Dumbledore nor Professor McGonagall had anything to say in regards to the blizzard spell Harry used against the hungarian horntail. As much as they wanted to find out where he'd learned the spell, they found themselves unable to approach Harry. They could only hope that Harry would forgive them (which was deemed unlikely to happen).

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: I'd like to give a shout out to 'sparrowflyaway' for suggesting that Harry use a blizzard spell against the hungarian horntail.**


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic. The rest of the Harry Potter series goes to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 11: Conflicted Fleur**

Back in the hospital wing, Draco was finally given a clean bill of health by Madam Pomfrey once the nurse returned. Pansy stayed by Draco's bedside as if he was her knight in shining armour, while irritable inwardly at having missed the first task. A minute or so after leaving the hospital wing, Draco and Pansy spotted their goons, Crabbe, Goyle and Theodore walking up to them with disappointed looks on their faces.

"Potter survived the task!" Theo informed Draco, with Crabbe and Goyle nodding their heads to confirm it.

"Shit!" exclaimed Draco, putting a palm to his forehead. "Father even bet himself. He'll chop my head off once he finds out, 'cause Astoria was blackmailed by Potter to bet that he'd survive, and I bet the rest of my pocket money!"

"Mr. Malfoy!" scolded Professor Sprout (a short, dumpy witch with dirty robes and curly brown hair turning gray) as she passed by the five arrogant Slytherins. "That's ten points from Slytherin for using foul language."

"Wait'll my father hears about this!" Draco growled at the herbology teacher, raising a fist threateningly.

"Okay, forty more points from Slytherin for threatening a teacher, _and_ a couple weeks of detentions!" said Professor Sprout irritably, then she beckoned Draco to follow her. "Now, to my office, so you can start by cleaning up the greenhouses, without magic!"

Draco had no choice but to do as instructed. Pansy and the other four Slytherins strolled away to find and 'confront' Tori for 'blindly' following Harry. Concurrently, Fleur was wandering around in the woods, her eyes widened in bewilderment. As she left the champions' tent earlier, she could hear people talking about Harry's blizzard spell and it was resulting in the Beauxbatons champion becoming conflicted over labelling Harry as a little boy.

"Was I wrong to judge Harry harshly too fast?" Fleur asked herself. "The way everyone is talking about his spell on his dragon, he appears to be much better than I initially thought! Was Karma teaching me that on the night when my uniform changed into that onesie with 'little girl' across it? It sure seemed like it, since I became the laughing stock for the next week or so. Perhaps if he gives me the chance, I shall make it up to Harry."

Fleur didn't realize that somebody had been eavesdropping in on her, the one person who didn't want to hear the part-veela talk about Harry. Ginny had been strolling by herself and heard Fleur words. Feeling her eyelid twitching with jealousy, Ginny also felt her arms and legs trembling and teeth gritting with rage.

"So now that bimbo of a Beauxbatons champion is after my Harry, too?!" Ginny whispered to herself, pure hatred directed at the part-veela. "She's dead meat and I'll make _damn_ sure of it!"

Ginny started walking up to the Beauxbatons champion to 'confront' her for her words. Fleur looked at Ginny (who was glaring) with indifference before shaking her head in disgust. Fleur also remembered most of the Hogwarts students discussing Ginny's obsessive fangirl crush on Harry and living on false hope that she would eventually be Harry's wife.

"May I help you with something?" asked Fleur, trying to do anything to get the Weasley girl off her back.

"Yes!" Ginny responded in a hot-tempered voice. "I want you to find Harry and tell him how much he means to me! I'm getting sick to death of everybody telling me that he'll never be interested in me! He needs to see that he and I were meant to be, but he just continues to ignore my efforts. Nobody even has the decency to side with me at all, they're just being too stuck-up even though they know Harry is mine and mine _only_!"

"I meant anything besides that!" Fleur clarified before continuing on. "You think Harry will just accept you just because you have an obsessive crush on him? What makes you _so_ special to Harry, huh?"

"He rescued me from the Chamber of Secrets a couple years ago!" said Ginny in a fierce tone of voice.

"Really? I had _no_ idea that playing the damsel-in-distress was the right motive!" said Fleur sarcastically. Then she continued on in a neutral voice. "Some of Harry's friends I've heard talking were mentioning that he has this saving people thing, so that was nothing special in your case. Harry likely would've rescued anybody, no matter who it was."

"I even stood up for him before I started school!" Ginny tried defending herself.

"Sucking up to Harry also won't work." stated Fleur. "Given the fact you continue to be a crazy fangirl, you just want him for his fame and recognition."

"LIES!" Ginny screamed.

"Prove it, then," Fleur challenged. "Prove you aren't a crazy fangirl of his by trying to get to know the real Harry!"

"I've proven it many years ago, thank you!" snapped Ginny. "I've been planning my wedding with him since I was five!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Fleur sneered after giving off an incredulous laugh. "A five year old girl can't possibly plan a wedding with their hero! Who gave you those insane ideas?!"

"At least I don't have to use that veela allure of yours!" Ginny retorted.

"That doesn't prove anything in your case, Miss I'm-Gonna-Be-Lady-Potter-In-The-Future!" Fleur retorted back. "Like everybody discussing it, Harry will never be interested in you!"

"You know, I'm now regretting asking you for help!" snapped Ginny, ignoring the fact that she was trying to use Fleur. "Like I said, Harry was always the only one for me, and always will be!"

"That proves how delusional you really are!" stated Fleur in a matter-of-fact voice. "You're just refusing to move on, instead preferring to live on false hope!"

"I don't wanna hear that coming out of your mouth again, you _cow_!" growled Ginny, her arms and legs trembling with pure rage.

Fleur felt an eyelid twitching, hardly believing that she was called a cow. This angered the part-veela so much that she formed a fist and started cracking her knuckles in a threatening manner. Ginny gulped nervously and slowly started backing away and tried to keep her nervousness concealed, which turned out to be a futile attempt. The mischievous grin forming on Fleur's angry face told Ginny that she was in deep trouble. Ginny laughed nervously before turning around and (in a bound-to-be futile attempt) made a run for it, which only served to make Fleur chase after her relentlessly.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU FILTHY PIECE OF HIPPOGRIFF MANURE!" Fleur screamed after Ginny.

The Weasley girl was too frightened to even listen to Fleur, so she kept trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and the part-veela. What neither Ginny nor Fleur realized was that they were spotted by four Hogwarts students. Daphne, Adrian, Blaise and Luna were watching Ginny running away like a coward from the enraged part-veela, with intense enjoyment.

"Harry is gonna want to hear about this!" stated Adrian, trying to suppress his laughter.

"Yeah!" Luna agreed. "That Ginevra allowed the wrackspurts to get to her, and look where it got her!"

"Maybe then, we can all even spread the word about the Weasley girl's mishap!" stated Blaise.

"Ooh, that'll be a highlight!" said Daphne, trying to stifle her giggles. "She'll be the laughing stock of the castle for weeks, maybe even months to come!"

"Especially since she goes off claiming that no one can ever scare or intimidate her." said Luna. "With four witnesses, she won't be able to fool anyone anymore."

With the decision having been made, the four students walked off to find Harry and give him the exciting news. Along the way, they ran into Terence (who also decided to help them find Harry) and informed him of Ginny's cowardice. It took them five at least ten minutes or so before they finally found Harry (who was chatting with Tracey, Neville and Tori). Daphne easily understood that this was Neville and Tori's secret spot (since Tori would often tell her about it in secret). As soon as Daphne, Adrian, Luna and Blaise took turns informing Harry what all happened to Ginny, there were so many giggles (the girls even had to hold their sides, it was just so funny for them).

"I wonder what Fleur has up her sleeve to teach the weaselette a nasty lesson!" Tori responded in between giggles.

"Who knows, but I can't wait to see for myself what Ginevra's punishment from Fleur will be!" said Harry before laughing once more.

"I'll guess that Ginevra gets beat up!" said Tracey. "It would serve the Weasley girl to be taken down a peg or two."

"Especially for being a red-haired stalker, and not bothering to try to get to know the _real_ Harry." stated Daphne.

"No doubt there," Luna agreed. "She's too delusional to ever accept that Harry will never notice her how she believes." They all nodded their heads in agreement.

"It looks like it's time we start spreading the word of the weaselette's predicament," said Tori. "Since she _really_ needs a wake-up call."

Daphne, Adrian, Blaise and Luna nodded to one another with mischievous grins, so they got up and walked away to do just as they planned. Terence stayed behind with Harry, Tracey, Neville and Tori.

"Terence, have you had any luck with trying to talk to Susan?" asked Neville.

"No." Terence responded as he shook his head, his arms and legs trembling some. "It's like no matter what, I get scared anytime I try to approach her. What if she brushes me off because of me being a Slytherin?"

"I don't think she'll do that, Terence," assured Harry. "Susan is a nice girl and she proved that to me the other day. She was totally on my side by refusing to wear those degrading buttons Malfoy the ferret created."

"I just wish I could find the right words to strike up a conversation with her." said Terence in a downhearted voice.

"Well, just give it some more time and it'll come to you, Terence." Harry advised. "There may even be a chance where you'll cross her path. That's what happened with me and Tracey the other day."

"You really think so, Harry?" asked Terence, his spirits rising.

"Yes," assured Harry, nodding his head. "Having patience in that case will pay off, but don't go too fast because you don't want it to end badly."

"Thank you!" said Terence gratefully, a smile forming on his face.

They all got up to help spread the word of Ginny potentially getting her arse kicked by Fleur. In fact, a girl with reddish-brown hair was talking with Fred, George and Lee in a second floor corridor.

"Do you three have any ideas on how to deal with that Ginevra?" asked the girl.

"Sure, Demelza," Fred and George responded in their twin talk. Either Fred or George handed her a vial of clear potion. "Just put this in Ickle Ginnykins' shampoo, it'll do it's job in giving her hair the prettiest form of purple!"

"You can also add some silence wards around her four corner poster." Lee suggested to the girl named Demelza. "If she ever throws any tantrums regarding Harry being her's in the future, you can even cast a spell on her that can glue her tongue to the roof of her mouth, or a soap suds charm."

"Thanks a bunch, you three!" said Demelza in a grateful tone of voice, followed by a smirk. "Since Ginevra usually showers in the mornings, it'll make breakfast time more interesting when she arrives in the Great Hall!"

"Good luck, Demelza!" chorused Fred, George and Lee.

After Demelza walked back to Gryffindor Tower, the pranksters started heading over to the courtyard to see if there were any stories going around. Along the way they ran into Harry, Neville, Terence, Tracey and Tori (who were also heading to the courtyard). After explaining their intentions (with Fred, George and Lee developing enthusiastic looks on their faces), they all continued making a run for the courtyard full of students. Upon walking into the courtyard, Terence caught sight of the bright-copper hair that belonged to Susan (who was reading one of her school books), which gave him butterflies in his stomach and his face radiating with heat as he blushed. He was quickly able to snap out of his mesmerizing, so they could all start talking about Ginny's mishap.

"Hey Fred, George," Harry began explaining in a loud-enough voice. "Did you hear about your sister having bitten off more than she could chew?"

"No, what did she do?" asked the twins in mock curiosity. This was catching the attention of the other students (though they pretended not to notice, as part of the plan).

"Rumour has it, she called the Beauxbatons champion such a degrading name that it enraged her to the point of chasing Ginevra relentlessly." said Harry.

"What did Ginevra call Fleur?" asked Neville.

"I have no clue," said Tori. "But it had to be so bad that would make Fleur that mad. But it was said that Fleur even glared at Ginevra so nastily that the Weasley girl gulped nervously before turning around and running away."

"Unless I'm mistaken," Tracey started explaining. "It was rumoured that Ginevra called Fleur a cow."

"Bad girl Ginevra was being," said Lee. "She was being foolish enough to degrade somebody like that."

"I've also heard that Fleur is still chasing the Weasley girl to this very minute," stated Terence. "We haven't seen or heard much about it. But one thing is certain about that, and it's that Fleur is continuing that persistent chase in order to teach Ginevra a lesson, until she finally manages it."

"Oh, the shame!" Fred and George responded in their twin-talk with mock sympathy, shaking their heads. "How will we ever find her and save her?"

"Yeah, Ginevra and Fleur could be anywhere." said Harry.

So he and his friends left the courtyard while shaking their heads in mock sympathy for Ginny. The other nearby students had widened their eyes in horror at what the Weasley girl got herself into, and they also began spreading the word all throughout the castle. In fact, even the Beauxbatons _and_ Durmstrang students got wind of the news. Fleur was still continuing the relentless chase after Ginny in the woods. Occasionally Ginny found a few hiding places, but they only worked temporarily as Fleur always managed to find her again. Neither of them had any idea (at least, not yet) that Fleur's popularity had just skyrocketed while Ginny's went down the drain. No matter how hard she tried, Ginny couldn't get the still-enraged part-veela off her trail (since she refused to give up the chase). When Ginny finally collapsed from exhaustion, Fleur gave her another mischievous grin as she cracked her knuckles again.

"Time to teach you a lesson, you insensitive clod!" Fleur growled. Ginny gulped nervously again, realizing that Fleur was giving her a merciless glare, and that she wasn't going to get away with calling the Beauxbatons champion a cow.

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: I'd like to give a shoutout to 'Aurora Nightstar' for suggesting that Harry get a reminder in some way that Fleur respects him (in the form of teaching Ginny a lesson).**


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 12: Getting The Truth Out There**

Ginny got what she described as 'the worst beating yet,' since Fleur was enraged at being called a cow. The Weasley girl also realized that her 5'2" stature was no match for Fleur's height of 5'8". Fleur may be six inches taller, but Ginny underestimated the Beauxbatons champion with her taunts. Even though she tried fighting back, Fleur easily regained the upper hand. The fight got to the point where Ginny's clothes were all wrinkly and out of place (not to mention that there were some rips and tears on her shirt, coat and trousers), along with some bruises and scrapes. After five minutes (which felt like an eternity for the Weasley girl), Fleur was finally satisfied and stopped. She brushed her hands in an 'all-done' manner before walking back to the castle, hoping to find Harry and inform him of her defending his honour (unaware that her fight with Ginny was the most-discussed topic). Ginny could only crawl as the pain was too much for walking (everytime she tried getting up, she'd wince as the pain increased some). She eventually reached the castle entrance, with Ron and Hermione looking down at her.

"So it's true after all," said Ron. "That the Beauxbatons champion beat you up."

"SHUT UP!" Ginny yelled in frustration, before wincing in pain again.

"Maybe you shouldn't have called her a cow, Ginny!" Hermione scolded.

"She kept lying to me about my Harry never showing an interest in me!" Ginny whined.

Ron and Hermione immediately turned around and walked away (having had enough of Ginny's childish behaviour and tantrums), leaving the Weasley girl in the dust. Ginny got up to find Harry and prove that 'they were meant to be,' only to realize that her torn trousers fell to her ankles (since the trousers' waist was even stretched out a bit before splitting open) and exposed her purple knickers. This also resulted in countless nearby students laughing and pointing at the delusional Boy-Who-Lived fangirl. Ginny immediately pulled her trousers up as her face turned red in embarrassment, but they fell back to her ankles when she let go. She pulled her trousers up again and (while keeping them in place) began heading back to Gryffindor Tower to change into some clean clothes.

All too soon, dinner time arrived and everybody started heading for the Great Hall. Ginny's mishap with Fleur was still being discussed, much to the Weasley girl's chagrin. Harry decided on eating in the Great Hall, but he let Tracey and Daphne be so they could have their best friend time. He also didn't want his enemies nor the neutral students to know (at least, not yet) that he'd been secretly seeing Tracey for a while. With that decision, Harry joined Fred, George, Lee and a third year girl with reddish-brown hair at the Gryffindor table, with Neville and Tori joining them, too. Harry remembered the reddish-brown haired girl was among those who didn't give him any trouble (nor did she get a degrading button from Malfoy) despite the champion selection on Halloween.

"Demelza Robins, Harry!" said the reddish-brown girl, holding a hand out (with Harry shaking it). "I'm sorry I never told you earlier, but that fangirl of yours had been getting on my nerves, so I was planning to come up with something to shut her up."

"It's all good, Demelza," assured Harry. "Better late than never. And yes, Ginevra needs that wake-up call, but she won't take it. What do you have in mind to teach her a lesson?"

"Well, Fred and George suggested a hair-colour changing potion and spiking her shampoo with it," said Demelza with a smirk on her face. "So I went with that. So Saturday at lunch people will be seeing her with purple hair!"

"Since the potions effects will take a few hours to get ready," Fred and George told Harry in their twin talk. "And Ickle Ginnykins will have to deal with purple hair for the rest of the day!"

"Getting beat up by the Beauxbatons champion and then facing purple hair?" Tori responded as she started giggling. "The weaselette will be having more bad days!"

"Monsieur Potter?!" said Fleur when she walked up to Harry.

"Yes?" Harry responded once he turned around to see the Beauxbatons champion standing before him.

"Is it too late for an actual apology?" asked Fleur, then she started explaining why. "The night of the champion selection when your headmaster read your name, he never bothered saying anything about you being innocent or something, and that can make it easy to mistake for thinking that his lack of words meant that he assumed you were guilty. Not only that, but after hearing others talking about your blizzard spell against your dragon, it really got me thinking and I realized that you weren't at all a little boy like I initially claimed. I also heard about your heroic deeds over the years you've been here and when some of those people mentioned that you never did that for the recognition, but for the safety, that was like a harsh wake-up call for me."

"No actually, it's not too late in your case," assured Harry. "I can understand how Dumbledore's lack of words on something can be misleading, like those books about me as the Boy-Who-Lived. Yes, it's true that I never did those heroic deeds here in the castle for the recognition, it was for the safety of everybody. That little boy comment wasn't as bad in comparison to what Ron and Hermione did during the last few weeks. But I am impressed that you had the goodwill to apologize. Even though I gave them plenty of chances, they continued to blow them, so I decided that enough was enough. Even though they eventually apologized, it's too late for them to repair their friendship with me. So I forgive you!"

Ron and Hermione had their heads down as they listened to Harry's explanation with Fleur. The guilt of not being there for Harry in his time of need was making it worse for them. Hermione felt her stomach cramping painfully as the guilt lingered in her mind, to the point where she grasped it with her hands and closed her eyes shut tightly. Ron got up to leave and avoid any more potential humiliation, until he spotted Fleur still talking with Harry. Ron found himself mesmerized by the beauty coming from the quarter-veela (even though Fleur wasn't using the veela allure), to the point where his tongue started hanging out and resulting in his mouth dripping drool onto the floor. Hermione saw that and, after rolling her eyes in exasperation, grabbed Ron by the ear to drag him out of the Great Hall and back to Gryffindor Tower, with youngest male Weasley still mesmerized that he left a long line of drool behind, resulting in some snickers from a few witnessing students.

"Thank you, Harry," said Fleur, making sure the gratefulness in her voice was there. "I can make a fresh start and prove to be a good friend if you'd like."

"Of course," said Harry (with the others accompanying him nodding their heads as a way of allowing her to join them). "I want to have the right friends instead of too many who may be unfaithful."

Fleur sat down next to Tori and they all began talking about what all interested them. Soon, dinner time was over and it was time to turn in for the night. Back in the headmaster's office, Albus was using some sort of device by putting his wand up to his temple and drawing some sort of long, silvery substance out and putting it in a basin. Professor McGonagall was also in the office, with an anxious look on her face.

"Albus, if you don't quit trying to in-interfere with Lord Potter's life, he may quit and find another school after this year is over!" Professor McGonagall warned her superior. "I can't even approach him after that tirade about how upset Lily and James would be if they found out what all he went through and how I've failed!"

"Minerva, I assure you that Harry is just overreacting," Albus claimed. "It's normal teenager stuff. We've all been through that at one point or another!"

"But that doesn't mean that they're gullible!" Minerva tried defending what Harry said to her. "If you'd just allow a loving family the opportunity to look after Harry…"

"Minerva, I assure you that the Dursleys aren't as bad as Harry claims," Albus responded in his grandfatherly voice. "Sometimes sacrifices need to be made in order for something good to be accomplished. Harry must understand that he's safer with the Dursleys than anywhere else!"

Minerva shook her head in disgust as she left Dumbledore's office. She knew Harry wouldn't trust her anymore and that it was her fault for not listening to Harry in favour of her superior so many times. Minerva was getting an itchy feeling in her back that Albus was underestimating Harry. The headmaster also had no idea that his actions were getting ready to catch up to him.

/Scene break\

It was Saturday after breakfast and Harry, Neville, Adrian, Terence and Blaise began walking outside and over to Hogsmeade (since it was a Hogsmeade weekend). The five decided to let the girls have their girl time. Just before reaching the double doors leading outside, they ran into trouble once more.

"Well, well," Draco sneered (with Pansy, Crabbe, Goyle and Nott doing the same). "If it isn't potty and porky, corrupting Adrian and Terence, too!"

"You'd better quit while you're still ahead, Malfoy!" Adrian and Terence warned in a serious voice. "You wouldn't want another trip to the hospital wing now, would you?!"

"Thanks to Potter, I had to give the rest of my pocket money to Astoria, and father even had to pay himself!" Draco belly-ached. "Potter wasn't supposed to survive the first task!"

He whipped his wand out and tried to stupefy Harry, but his family ring sensed that and caused the spell to bounce back and hit the Malfoy scion in the chest. This made Draco stagger back in intense pain, but concealed it to glare at Harry.

"Wait till my father…" Draco began growling.

"A hundred points from Gryffindor, Potter!" snapped Professor Snape as soon as he should up. "Don't you know better than to attack a fellow student?"

"Hypocrite!" Harry retorted. "Malfoy was the one who…"

"Don't go blaming Draco for your bad behaviour, Potter!" Professor Snape snapped again. "Fifty more points and a month's worth of detention!"

"Professor, Malfoy really was the one…" Adrian, Terence and Blaise tried defending Harry.

"Potter confunded them, professor!" Draco claimed.

"You three better head up to the hospital wing as soon as possible." Professor Snape told Adrian and Terence, before turning his attention back to Harry. "Fifty more points for confunding fellow students and two months worth of detention. I expect to see you after lunch, you brat!"

"Don't count on it, because I ain't going!" said Harry, before warning. "I suggest you rightfully punish Malfoy or I'll press charges!"

"Okay, a hundred more points for threatening a teacher and a student," said Professor Snape. "And three months worth of detention!"

He strolled away with his cloak billowing behind him. As soon as the soon-to-be former potions master out of sight, Malfoy and his goons stuck their tongues out at Harry, only to be put into full-body binds and left to be noticed by a teacher. Then Harry, Neville, Blaise, Adrian and Terence began resuming their walk to Hogsmeade.

"We're sorry, Harry! We tried defending you!" Blaise, Adrian and Terence apologized in sheepish voices.

"It's not your fault!" Harry assured. "Snape is too overcome with hatred that he won't accept that Malfoy was the real troublemaker. Do any of you know of somebody working for the Daily Prophet who actually cares about the truth?"

"My mum, Amy." stated Adrian. "She despises lies and slandering in any shape. I can write a letter to her to see if she can meet up with you at least, at the Three Broomsticks or something."

"Sounds good," said Harry with relief in his voice. "When you're done, I can call up one of my house elves and have him or her deliver it to where your mother's office is."

"Are we getting the right feeling why you want an article?" Neville, Blaise, Adrian and Terence asked with amused grins on their faces.

"Yep!" said Harry with a smirk on his face. "I'm getting tired of many people treating me like the Boy-Who-Lived and not looking past the scar, so it's time for me to deal with that once and for all!"

The other four boys nodded their heads in understanding. Once they made it to the Three Broomsticks, Adrian got out some parchment and a pen to write to his mother. Once he was done, Harry called for Piper to deliver the letter while they waited. A few minutes later, a woman who's black hair was in a bun came walking inside the Three Broomsticks.

"Hi, mum!" Adrian greeted.

"Hi, Adrian!" Mrs. Pucey greeted her son as she gave him a hug. Then she turned her attention to Harry and held a hand out with a friendly smile on her face. "Hello, Harry, I'm Amy Pucey!"

"Nice to meet you, ma'am!" said Harry as he shook Amy's hand.

"Adrian mentioned in his letter that you wanted an interview to be posted in the Daily Prophet?" asked Amy.

"That's correct, Amy." assured Harry, nodding his head to confirm it. "I wish to get the truth out there because I'm getting tired of the whispers, finger pointing, and most people treating me like the Boy-Who-Lived instead of trying to get to know the _real_ me!"

"Would you like this to be done in private?" Amy offered.

"Yes, please!" said Harry in a grateful tone.

"We're going to walk around outside, Harry." said Neville, with Blaise, Adrian, and Terence nodding their heads to confirm it. "We'll be around Honeydukes when you're finished."

"Good luck, Harry!" Neville, Blaise, Adrian and Terence chorused in encouraging voices.

"Thank you!" said Harry gratefully.

Madam Rosmerta sensed that Harry and Amy needed a more private room to ensure the least amount of disturbance. So she led Harry and Amy into a back room behind the bar counter. Once they were in, Amy whipped her wand out and cast some privacy wards and locking charms on the door, just to be safe, and then getting a notepad and pen out.

"Alright, Harry, what would you like to discuss first?" asked Amy.

"Well, my life before Hogwarts," said Harry in a tense voice, breathing nervously. "But this one won't be easy!"

"I understand, Harry," assured Amy in a soft voice. "I'll wait until you're ready!"

Harry spent a few minutes thinking over on how to explain his treatment from the Dursleys away, as there were so many bad memories that the grand total couldn't be counted up. Harry took a deep breath and began explaining to Amy (who started writing notes on her notepad) on what kind of people the Dursleys were. Amy's eyes widened in shock when she found out that Harry was abused by his relatives relentlessly and never given any love or affection whatsoever. Her expression darkened when Harry mentioned how Snape treated him in classes, how Dumbledore kept using him as a pawn and making him go back to the same environment every summer, despite the inevitable. Harry also told Amy how his godfather, Sirius had been chucked into Azkaban without a trial, resulting in her expression darkening further. Harry also made sure to tell Amy about him being accused of being the Heir of Slytherin a couple years ago without a teacher stopping the threats, and his unwilling placement in the tournament, and how Dumbledore never tried pulling him out. The interview lasted for about forty-five minutes by the time Harry was finished.

"That was brave, Harry," Amy praised. "Most people your age are afraid of discussing moments you've been through because they fear retaliation."

"Well, I needed to get that out," stated Harry. "It _does_ feel like alot of weight had been lifted off my chest."

"When would you like the article published?" asked Amy.

"As soon as possible, please," said Harry. "Maybe, if my timing calculations are correct, the Daily Prophet will start arriving in the Great Hall shortly after lunchtime arrives."

"I'll see what can be done, Harry." Amy promised.

"Thank you, ma'am!" said Harry gratefully.

Amy left to return to the Daily Prophet main office while Harry stayed for a few minutes longer, since discussing the Dursleys treatment had been so difficult for him. The article will not only set Dumbledore's arse on fire, but Snape will be finding himself in hot water once and for all, McGonagall may very well lose her chance at becoming headmistress (since it was always believed she'd take that job if Dumbledore left). Maybe this article will inspire teachers to do a better job with punishments by having the wrongdoers suffer the consequences instead of allowing them to get away with their actions. It seemed like Fudge will most likely be losing his popularity now for taking Snape's words for it about Sirius confunding Harry and his former friends, instead of checking for any signs. Harry felt a smile forming across his face as he imagined the school's reaction to the article.

_To be continued!_


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic. The rest goes to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 13: The Daily Prophet Of Truth**

Harry left the Three Broomsticks to meet up with Neville, Blaise, Adrian and Terence. Remembering what they told him before the interview, Harry started heading for Honeydukes. Once the sweetshop was in plain view, Harry saw Neville, Blaise, Adrian and Terence walking out the front door.

"How'd it go, Harry?" asked Neville.

"It couldn't have gone any better," stated Harry with a smirk on his face. "It felt like all the weight was finally lifted off my shoulders!"

"When will the article get published?" asked Adrian in a voice only the five of them could hear.

"Sometime before lunch," Harry whispered. "I even have a feeling that some of those who've done me wrong are about to learn the error of their actions the hard way."

"I also think that there'll be howlers, too," said Terence. "Since there'll be a countless number of angry people sending them."

"We'll just have to wait until lunch to find out." said Blaise.

Harry checked his watch and saw that lunch was forty-five minutes away. So the five started heading back to the castle and over to the courtyard. They had no idea that they were approaching the area where Peeves the poltergeist was causing more havoc. This was the second time he was using water balloons and blasting any student unfortunate enough to cross his path (he did the same thing at the welcoming feast the start of term and reprimanded by the deputy headmistress). All of a sudden, a girl's startled gasp was heard, followed by the sound of her skidding on the water. The five boys started turning around, but Terence felt the girl's hands grab ahold of his left arm before they could do so. He turned around and saw that the girl had bright-copper hair, much to his excitement. Terence could feel his heart beating when he realized that it was Susan Bones, and his heart began beating faster when she revealed her face.

"H-H-Here!" Terence responded in a nervous voice, trying to help Susan. "I'll help you o-out of the puddle."

"Thank you!" Susan responded in a grateful tone of voice.

As Terence was helping Susan out of the puddle, he could feel his legs shaking. They felt like they were filling up with jello, almost making them give out. But Terence ignored that for the sake of helping a lady in need. Harry, Neville, Blaise and Adrian were grinning as they watched the whole thing, happy to see that Terence was finally doing something helpful for Susan. It wasn't easy because Susan was still in the puddle and she was afraid that she'd skid again or slip and fall onto the hard ground. Once Susan was finally out of the puddle, Terence escorted her over to a bench to see if she was alright while Harry, Neville, Blaise and Adrian took turns in using spells to clean up the water.

"Are you okay?" Terence asked Susan with concern in his voice.

"Yes, thanks for asking," said Susan gratefully. "It's nice to meet you, ummm…"

"Terence Higgs," Terence introduced himself to Susan, holding a hand out. "Nice to meet you too, Susan."

Susan started shaking Terence's hand and then he sat down next to her to try and start a conversation. Harry, Neville, Blaise and Adrian started walking away slowly, so they could give Terence and Susan some alone time. As hard as he tried, Terence could feel some nervousness while talking to Susan. He kept stopping to choose what he felt were better words and/or stammering when he thought he was taking it the wrong way. Susan felt herself giggling in amusement, making Terence blush.

"I'm… I'm sorry!" Terence stammered. "I'm… I'm just…"

"I'm not laughing to make fun of you," assured Susan. "The way you were trying to talk to me, it just sounds so cute and…"

Susan stopped in mid-sentence as she widened her eyes and covered her mouth with a hand when she realized what had escaped her lips. She and Terence started blushing more as they both found themselves giggling. It was a little less than ten minutes before lunch, so Terence and Susan got up and started heading for the Great Hall.

"Would you like me to join you at the Hufflepuff table?" Terence offered.

"That'd be nice," said Susan. Then her voice turned into a sad one. "But no one in my house supports Harry and I haven't had anyone to talk to all that much, since they just assumed that I was corrupted by Harry."

"How about joining me at the Slytherin table with some friends?" Terence suggested.

"Okay," said Susan as she formed a smile on her face. "Maybe the loneliness I've been going through will go away."

Once Terence and Susan made it to the Great Hall, they headed for the Slytherin table. They also caught Harry, Neville and Tori having joined Fred, George and Lee at the Gryffindor table. They didn't recognize the girl with reddish-brown hair, but they could see that she got along with those she was talking to quite nicely. As soon as Terence and Susan approached the Slytherin table, Adrian, Daphne and Tracey grinned.

"Well, how about that?!" said Daphne.

"It happened with a huge puddle of water," Terence explained to Daphne and Tracey. "When a gasp was heard, followed by a skidding sound. Then I saw a pair of hands grab my arm in a way to make sure she didn't fall to the ground. My heart beat when I saw it was Susan."

"Now we need Tracey to find somebody who likes her." said Susan.

"I've actually been seeing Harry for a while now." Tracey informed Susan in a whisper.

"Really?" Susan responded, keeping her voice in a whisper. "How'd you and Harry pull it off and keep at it?"

"Harry mentioned something about wanting his enemies and people who are neutral to think that no one would be interested in him," said Tracey, keeping her voice in the whisper. "Something I agreed with, since he must have a really good reason why."

Susan nodded her head to show that she understood. Before the conversation could go further, owls began flying into the Great Hall and dropped copies of the Daily Prophet in front of their respective owners. As soon as Professor Dumbledore picked up a copy dropped in front of him, he glanced at the headline and widened his eyes in utter shock as he felt the colour draining from his face. Professor McGonagall reacted the same way while Professor Snape looked ready to foam at the mouth in pure anger. Professors Sprout and Flitwick widened their eyes in shock and put their hands over their respective mouths. The article read:

**The Boy-Who-Lived, A Myth After All!**

**By Amy Pucey**

_This reporter has learned that the story behind the Boy-Who-Lived turned out to be nothing more than a myth. She interviewed Lord Harry James Potter at the Three Broomsticks tavern earlier today. The interview below gives out solid details in regards to what Harry's life was really like:_

_Amy: What was your life really like before Hogwarts?_

_Harry: For as long as I can remember, the Dursleys abused and neglected me as much as they spoiled and doted on my cousin, Dudley. He got all sorts of treats, presents, pocket money or any other reward, even though he hardly worked for anything. I, on the other hand, had to do an unreasonable amount of chores and got almost nothing in return. I'd also get punished for getting better grades or much worse grades than Dudley during our primary school days. I'd also get punished for anything like not completing the unreasonable amount of chores within a time limit, undercooking or overcooking anything, wasting water, wasting time, asking questions no matter how good they were, breathing, being happy or even existing._

_Amy: Did any of your teachers at your primary school try to help?_

_Harry: Some did, but they got blacklisted. I have a hunch that my uncle would bribe the headmistress to keep quiet, allowing me to suffer more abusive treatment. I also had to sleep in a cramped-up cupboard under the stairs while Dudley got two bedrooms to himself. Dudley was also given new clothes whenever possible while I had to get his old clothes, which were always several sizes too big for me. Punishments I received were generally getting beatings with a belt, staying outside on some of the hottest or coldest days for indefinite periods, Dudley and his gang beating me up five-on-one, having meals and water revoked, spending indefinite periods inside the cupboard under the stairs, and getting terrorized by a dog owned by my uncle's sister. On Dudley's tenth birthday, I accidentally stepped on the dog, Ripper's paw and he chased me outside into the backyard and up a tree. Nobody even came to my aid, the Dursleys just laughed at it. It wasn't until the next morning when Ripper was finally called off._

_Amy: Did anybody call the police?_

_Harry: Some of the neighbors did, but the Dursleys always used a cover story and likely bribed the police to ignore the whole thing. Even that resulted in more beatings for me. On Dudley's eleventh birthday, I somehow freed a boa constrictor from an exhibit at London Zoo. Dudley and his best friend, Piers even lied, exaggerated and even tattled on me, like they usually did. That resulted in me being forced to stay in the cupboard for five weeks. Seven days before my eleventh birthday, I got my Hogwarts acceptance letters._

_Amy: What were your relatives reactions?_

_Harry: Well, in my excitement and confusion, I was foolish to try reading it where they could see it. They intended to send me to a local state school called Stonewall High while Dudley got to attend my uncle's secondary school, Smeltings Academy. When I tried to read my acceptance letter in the dining room, Dudley snatched it out of my hand and gave it to my uncle. Despite my insistence on giving it back, it was ignored and instead, Dudley and I were thrown out of the dining room and into the hallway. Later, my uncle visited me in my cupboard and informed me that he and my aunt were giving me Dudley's second bedroom. That wasn't out of kindness, since part of the address on my acceptance letters said 'the cupboard under the stairs.' In other words, my so-called relatives were only sucking up to me._

_Amy: Did you ever get to read the acceptance letter?_

_Harry: Not until my birthday. Before that, my uncle would just burn them, rip them up or do anything to make sure I couldn't get ahold of them. That was when I realized that I should've read my letter in the cupboard or at least somewhere more private. I even repaired an alarm clock and used it one early morning to wait for the sender of the letter at the end of the street, but my uncle slept in a sleeping bag at the bottom of the stairs, making sure I never got to do exactly what I was trying to do. It was like he had me every way I turned. We eventually left to go to a place 'where they could never find us,' as my uncle put it, not even stopping for refreshments all day until we got to a hotel. I still got letters, which my uncle snatched them away. We even got to an island with a hut on it. It was shortly after midnight on my birthday when I finally got to read my acceptance letter._

_Amy: Was it Professor McGonagall who gave it to you? That's the deputy headmistress' job._

_Harry: No, Hagrid was the one who personally gave it to me. He even gave me a cake, which was stolen by my cousin and eaten by him. Hagrid was genuinely shocked when he realized that I had no idea what was up with the acceptance letters, and further enraged when he found out that I knew nothing about the wizarding world, nor the circumstances leading up to my parents' death. Until then, I believed that my parents died in a car crash, since that was what my aunt and uncle claimed. I was told what really happened to my parents, but my relatives claimed they got what they deserved, which didn't sit well with Hagrid._

_Amy: What happened when you were reintroduced to the wizarding world?_

_Harry: Well, at The Leaky Cauldron, some people happened to shake hands with me. One even welcomed me back. Then Hagrid took me to Gringotts and over to my family vault, which was later revealed to be a trust vault. Then over to a vault that contained only a grubby little package. Hagrid said that the contents in the package was Hogwarts business, very secret. Then we left so I could get my school stuff. After that, I spent the next month back at Privet Drive with my relatives. They simply ignored me, until I informed them of having to go to King's Cross Station on September 1st._

_Amy: What was your first year like?_

_Harry: Well, at first I felt like I was somewhere I was going to belong. But then I very quickly started attracting unwanted attention because most students whispered and pointed fingers at me to show I was there. Even my first potions lesson was terrible because Professor Snape asked me questions on topics that the average first year wouldn't understand. Even when I stated that I didn't know, he unjustly docked house points. Even Professor McGonagall doesn't do her job as deputy head well. My former best friend, Ron Weasley and I went to save my other former best friend, Hermione Granger from a troll on that Halloween. In spite of that, McGonagall only 'awarded' Ron and I five points each for 'sheer dumb luck.' Close to the end of that year, she even docked fifty points each from myself, Hermione and my best friend/godbrother Neville Longbottom while McGonagall only docked twenty points from Draco Malfoy, all for a simple case of being out past curfew. I got the worst treatment and no teacher stopped the threats of being hexed aimed at me. Our detention happened to be helping Hagrid out in the Forbidden Forest, despite that being servant stuff, not something for students, let alone first year students._

_Amy: Why would something like that be assigned for detentions?_

_Harry: I have no idea, but I also found out that the grubby package Hagrid picked up from Gringotts contained the Philosopher's Stone, with help from Hermione. One night we went to the third floor corridor to stop whoever was after the stone, even though Dumbledore warned that it was out-of-bounds to those who didn't wish to die a most painful death. Ron, Hermione and myself even worked as a team to get past the enchantments protecting the stone. I discovered that the one after the stone was the defence teacher, Professor Quirrell, who also let the troll in as a diversion. He even had a face on the back of his head, which turned out to be Voldemort and he tried to kill me yet again. I managed to hold him off for a while before passing out. I eventually woke up in the hospital wing, with Dumbledore explaining everything._

_Amy: What happened after you left the hospital wing?_

_Harry: Well, Dumbledore waited until the end of the year feast to give last minute points to Hermione, Ron, myself and Neville, who tried to stop me, Ron and Hermione from leaving Gryffindor Tower. Gryffindor barely won the house cup by beating Slytherin by ten points. Why Dumbledore did that remains a mystery. Then he sends me back to the Dursleys despite their abusive treatment towards me, claiming that I was only exaggerating. They had a dinner party interrupted because a house elf warned me not to return to Hogwarts for my second year and framed me for smashing my aunt's pudding when I refused. When my uncle found out I couldn't use magic outside of Hogwarts, even though I didn't, he locked me up in my room around the clock and had bars put over my window to prevent me from leaving._

_Amy: How did you manage to escape?_

_Harry: Ron and his twin brothers, Fred and George came to rescue me and take me to their home. When we went to Gilderoy Lockhart's book signing, he dragged me into the spotlight against my will. In fact, he'd been doing the same throughout that whole year, since he was Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher at the time. He even tried fixing the bones in my arm after the Rogue Bludger incident, even though I told him not to, and the ensuing result was that my bones were removed. I even had to be given Skele-Gro to get them back. Professor Lockhart even had a hand in me getting blamed for being the Heir of Slytherin._

_Amy: What did he do to cause that?_

_Harry: Well, Draco conjured a snake during the first and only meeting of the Dueling Club. Lockhart tossed the snake into the air, enraging it into almost attacking a student. Then I discovered my parseltongue ability and used it to talk the snake into backing off before Snape made it disappear. But most of the student body only glared and jeered at me before declaring me to be Slytherin's heir without asking me for my side of the story._

_Amy: Does that mean there are more people responsible for that whole fiasco?_

_Harry: Yes. Lucius Malfoy also had a hand in it by placing a mysterious book or something in Ginny Weasley's cauldron at Flourish and Blotts, shortly after Lockhart's book signing. Now that I think about it, Ginny also had a hand in the fiasco, too. I found a diary that belonged to Tom Marvolo Riddle and when I investigated it by writing in it, I discovered that it wrote back. A memory of Tom's shown to me showed that he framed Hagrid for opening the Chamber of Secrets fifty-two years ago and killing a student. When the attacks happened a few more times, Hagrid was taken to Azkaban as a precautionary measure, but not before he indirectly told me and Ron to follow the spiders, in which his acromantula, Aragog revealed that Hagrid was innocent._

_Amy: So that mysterious book slipped into Ginny's cauldron was the cursed diary you came across?_

_Harry: Indeed, it was. The diary was found in a girls' lavatory on the second floor within a puddle of water, since the bathroom was flooded that night. That made me eventually realize that she committed tampering with evidence, since she didn't turn it in to an authoritative figure. Ginny stole it back when she saw the diary slip out of my school bag when it split open on that Valentine's day in the corridors and waited to do so when I wasn't around. I eventually found out, with Hermione's help that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was located in the same girls' bathroom where I found the diary. Lockhart, Ron and I even got the rest of that from Moaning Myrtle, who has since been haunting the bathroom. I used parseltongue to open the entrance. A faucet had a snake engraved in it, which told me that that was the entrance. It turned out to be a pipe that can be slid on._

_Amy: What happened after you, Ron and Lockhart jumped in?_

_Harry: We forced Lockhart down first, then I jumped in before Ron did the same. As soon as we came across shedded snake skin, Lockhart pretended to faint and snatched Ron's spellotaped wand out of his hand in an attempt to erase our minds. But the spell backfired on him, resulting in him getting blasted and the cave collapsing. Ron had to shift some of the rock while I went on to find Ginny. Then I came across the memory of the sixteen year old Tom Riddle, who told what all Ginny wrote in his diary, one of which was how she was worried that she would never be good enough for 'the famous Harry Potter.' Tom even used my wand to spell out his full name. The letters rearranged to spell out 'I am Lord Voldemort.' He even revealed that his father was a muggle and his mother a witch, in which he said he wouldn't keep his 'filthy muggle father's name.' He even used parseltongue to summon a basilisk to take me out once and for all._

_Amy: How'd you deal with and take down the basilisk?_

_Harry: Well, Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes arrived moments earlier to drop the sorting hat in my hands. When the mouth of the Salazar Slytherin statue opened up, I turned around to avoid it's deadly gaze, with Tom explaining that parseltongue wouldn't save me because the snake only obeyed him. Fawkes even came to puncture the basilisk's yellow eyes, blinding it and allowing me to fight it without the risk of getting killed or petrified. I used the sorting hat to call for help by thinking it, then something hit my head and almost knocked me out. It turned out to be the sword of Godric Gryffindor and I pulled it out of the hat and after some minutes fighting it, I delivered the final blow by stabbing it through it's head. I managed to kill it, but one of it's fangs actually got me and I would've died if Fawkes didn't use his tears to heal the wound. Then I defeated the memory of Tom by stabbing the diary with the fang three times. The Ginny woke up and I escorted her back to where Ron was, with an amnesia-suffering Lockhart fascinated with magic._

_Amy: How did the four of you get back up the pipe?_

_Harry: Fawkes dealt with that by flying us up, then we headed for an empty classroom. Ginny's parents even scolded her for trusting an object that thought for itself. She was also more concerned about being expelled than the safety of the students and never thanked me in any way. When Dumbledore and I returned to his office, Lucius came by to rant, with his house elf, Dobby behind him, all terrified. After Lucius and Dobby left the office, Dumbledore allowed me to borrow the diary to give to Lucius, since he sneaked the diary into Ginny's cauldron. I even took off one of my socks and put in the diary and shoved it Lucius' face. Seeing the sock angered him into tossing it carelessly at Dobby's feet, freeing him from their servitude._

_Amy: What happened when he realized that?_

_Harry: He got his wand out and tried to kill me, but Dobby saved me from that by using his magic to send Lucius flying backwards. Despite saving many lives from further danger, Dumbledore still sent me back to my abusive relatives as a so-called reward. On my thirteenth birthday, my uncle's sister came for a visit and proceeded to insult me and eventually insulted my parents, leading me to accidentally inflate her with wandless magic. My so-called uncle even demanded that I bring her back and set her right. I refused because she got what came to her and my uncle tried to kill me by strangulation and I left Privet Drive and on my way to London. After Fudge told me that charges wouldn't be pressed against me, I spent the remainder of the holidays at The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley._

_Amy: What about your third year? Was that just as bad or worse?_

_Harry: I'd say it was worse because the dementors were out looking for my godfather, Sirius Black, as many people assumed he was out to kill me. But that was far from the truth, he was innocent of the crimes he was convicted for, but never given a trial. I even tried explaining that to Fudge, but Snape claimed I was confunded and Fudge took his word for it instead of properly checking. In fact, Snape treated Neville and myself much worse than before. The dementors even affected me most of all, prompting me to learn the Patronus Charm from Remus Lupin. The one who really betrayed my parents was Peter Pettigrew, who had been living with the Weasleys as a rat named Scabbers. Because of him, Snape, Fudge and Dumbledore, I was forced to return to the Dursleys the following summer._

_Amy: What else has been happening this year?_

_Harry: At the Quidditch World Cup, I was almost blamed for conjuring the dark mark not long after the match ended. Then on Halloween, my name emerged from the goblet of fire, even though I never submitted. I was still told that I had no choice but to compete and most of the students just labelled me as an attention seeker, glory hound, cheater, or any other degrading name they could think of, again without asking for my side of the story. I was still treated like dragon dung and nobody did a thing to stop all the insults, threats and accusations. Finally, I decided to take matters into my own hands after having had enough. It was like no matter how hard I tried treating people decently, the favour was just never returned._

Silence filled the Great Hall when everybody read the article themselves. Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall paled further, realizing the hard way what their actions led to. Snape looked as though he was turning rabid, all because 'Potter made a mockery out of him.' Even though she read it herself, Ginny refused to believe the article.

"No! No! No! No!" said Ginny hastily, shaking her head in denial. "Harry would never get abused, especially not my Harry! I'm going to go find out who impersonated him and I'll give that person a piece of my mind!"

"Ginny, nobody impersonated Harry," Ron responded, trying to conceal his collywobbles. "The author of the article looks for the truth. You should know that."

"Plus, your attempt to find the supposed Harry impersonator will be futile," stated Hermione. "There's no point in trying."

"Fine!" said Ginny irritably. "I don't need any of your help, nor Ron's. I'll do it by myself. Harry will be proud of me for catching his impersonator and finally see that we're meant to be!"

Ginny got up and left the Great Hall to look for the 'impersonator,' oblivious that her flaming-red hair was just beginning to turn purple. Harry had been witnessing the ordeal and shook his head while rolling his eyes in exasperation. Fleur read the article and felt her stomach twist in fright and disgust at the thought of what the abusive treatment would've felt like. It was enough for her to dash out of the Great Hall and into a nearby girls lavatory to throw up in the loo. As soon as a few owls were spotted delivering howlers, Harry got up and left to let the wrongdoers deal with it. Those on Harry's side saw that and immediately followed suit (the other girls found themselves making a mad dash to the loo to throw up, having grimaced at the thought of the abusive treatment Harry had been receiving, while the boys widened their eyes in utter shock). Soon, more owls began delivering howlers and most of them were directed at Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape and Madam Pomfrey (to a lesser extent). Some of the students even got howlers for treating Harry like dirt. So many more howlers were piling up at such a rapid pace that some of them even exploded and screamed messages much louder than if they were opened on time. It was making the Great Hall look like a madhouse.

_To be continued!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter series, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 14: A New Potions Teacher**

Howlers were also being delivered to corrupt employees at the Ministry of Magic. Many of them were insisting that Fudge resign from his position as minister. Amelia Bones and the other employees who cared about doing their jobs properly (including Dora) had to leave the break room to avoid the risk of going deaf that the howlers would potentially cause. Cornelius Fudge's face turned red in embarrassment and felt his jaw drop when he saw that the article mentioned him taking Snape's word for it that Harry and his former best friends were confunded to believe that Sirius was innocent. Fudge had no time to say anything because he started getting howlers himself, much to his further embarrassment. Back at Hogwarts, Harry, Neville, Fred, George and Lee were walking at a fast pace, trying to get as far away from the Great Hall as possible. Fred and George were quickly confronted by Ginny (who had finally noticed her hair was all purple). Neville backed up a few paces, intending to keep a reasonable distance from Ginny since he still remembered the day she smacked him across the face.

"Alright, what did you do to turn my hair purple?!" Ginny demanded her twin brothers in a shrill-like voice.

"Did what, Ickle Ginnykins?!" asked the twins, playing dumb.

"That was actually me," Harry spoke up, intending to take the blame for the twins. "I put a hair colour changing potion in your shampoo this morning."

"And why would you do that, Harry?" Ginny asked as soon as she turned her attention to him, not convinced one bit.

"To get you to stop following me around like a puppy dog," stated Harry. Neville was trying to muffle his laughter with mixed results. "And to make sure you'd get so disgusted you won't wanna be anywhere near me from now on!"

"Now don't be silly, Harry!" said Ginny in a sweet-talk voice while grinning. "I'd never get tired of being anywhere near you. Clearly your imposter is compelling you to take the blame for Fred and George. I'll find him and see to it that you'll appreciate my efforts."

"No one is impersonating me, Ginevra," Harry assured. "Your efforts will be wasted if you keep at it."

Ginny ignored Harry's statements and walked away to continue finding the supposed Harry imposter. Once Ginny was no longer in hearing range, Neville let his laughter out. Fred, George and Lee had impressed expressions on their faces to have seen Harry trying to cover for them.

"That was incredible, Harry," the twins spoke in their twin talk. "But also funny at the same time. You trying to take the blame for us was also unexpected!"

"Too bad it didn't convince Ginevra from leaving you alone," said Lee. "It seemed to only increase her determination to end up with you."

"Well, it was worth a shot," said Harry. "But if she wants to continue living in that fantasy of her's, then that's her choice. But she won't be getting what she wants."

Back in the Great Hall, howlers were continuing to arrive. The whole place looked as though a tornado hit it, with all the torn up red envelopes and parchment (with some of them burning because of some of them having exploded due to being left unopened for too long) in shreds. Everyone who were still seated at their respective house tables (or guest tables for the visitors) had to cover their ears to try and block out the screaming. The Ministry of Magic was also continuing to experience the same thing. Cornelius was too embarrassed to even speak or move a limb, with awkward silence filling the break room once the howlers quit coming. The ministry workers who cared about doing their job returned to the break room once order was restored. Lucius Malfoy was sweating profusely when he saw that Harry even revealed the Malfoy patriarch's attempt to kill him.

"Lucius, did you really attempt to kill Harry when you did?" Lord Dennis Greengrass asked the Malfoy patriarch.

"Uh… no-o-oooooooo!" Lucius exclaimed, despite his profuse sweating intensifying. This resulted in a number of wands being pointed at him.

"That's enough for us to realize it's true," Amelia responded with joy in her voice, as Lucius was placed in magic suppression handcuffs. "You're under arrest Lucius, for attempted murder of Lord Potter, not to mention also suspicions of multiple counts of bribery, multiple counts of corruption, attempted line theft on House Greengrass, and if I may say so myself, multiple counts of usurpation. Perhaps much more, once we can find evidence. Now Lucius, you don't have to say anything, as it may harm your defence. Anything you _do_ choose to say can be given in evidence."

Lucius was taken into ministry custody, wondering how everything went wrong. Lord Dennis Greengrass had a joyful expression on his face and rubbed it in Lucius' face as he was led out. Back at Hogwarts, Harry was wandering the corridors when he was approached by Professor Dumbledore.

"Harry, my boy," Dumbledore responded in his grandfatherly voice. "I'm afraid you need to get that article retracted, you don't realize what you're doing. Surely a better reporter wouldn't hurt, it must be done for the Greater Good!"

"Somehow, I don't think that'll happen, professor!" said Harry irritably. "Do you honestly enjoy watching or hearing about me getting tormented?"

"No, Harry, of course not!" Dumbledore asserted.

"That's not what it seems like," stated Harry. "How is me living with abusive relatives supposed to be good? You should be lucky that I chose not to become a psychopath! I've had to look after myself for as long as I can remember."

"Surely you're just overreacting, Harry." Dumbledore claimed.

"No sir, I'm not," said Harry firmly. "Now unless you have something important, our talk is at an end."

Harry walked away, leaving the headmaster dumbfounded. As if that wasn't bad enough, Albus crossed paths with Amelia and several aurors moments later. They were irritable, something Dumbledore immediately figured out because of the expressions on their faces.

"This can't go on any longer, Albus!" Amelia responded in a stern voice. "We're going to have to arrest Severus not just because of the article about Harry's interview, but there've been a countless number of complaints that Severus is ruining careers for most students and abusing them and you continue to ignore them by speaking up for him instead of doing something about it. You should count yourself lucky for the time being that you won't be arrested because of the Triwizard Tournament. Now where is Severus?"

"He must be in his classroom." said Dumbledore reluctantly.

"And I suggest that you find a replacement for the potions teacher position!" Amelia snapped before she started leading the aurors behind her towards the Great Hall.

Albus began heading back to his office to start thinking of suitable wizards or witches as a replacement teacher for head of Slytherin House, not just potions teaching. Down in the dungeons where his classroom was located, Severus was grading assignments when he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in!" Snape called. The door flew open and Snape found several wands pointed at him.

"Severus Snape," Amelia responded in a firm voice, as Snape was being placed in magic suppression handcuffs. "You're under arrest for multiple counts of corruption, multiple counts of assault and battery on Lord Harry Potter, multiple counts of assault and battery on the Longbottom scion, multiple counts of ruining career choices for many students, multiple counts of oppression, and the case of your association with the death eaters will be reopened since Dumbledore spoke up in your defence at the time."

"The Potter brat and the Longbottom Squib have made a mockery outta me!" Snape growled as he struggled to free himself.

"Okay, now you're also charged with resisting arrest, Severus!" Amelia snapped, before reverting to a calmer voice. "Now Severus, you don't have to say anything, as it may harm your defence in court. Anything you choose to say can be given in evidence."

Snape glared at Amelia (who glared right back as he was led out and outside the wards surrounding the castle). Then the aurors apparated Snape over to the ministry and into one of the ministry holding cells (coincidentally next to the one holding Lucius).

'Oh well!' thought Snape in false hope. 'At least Albus will vouch for me!'

/Scene break\

It was a 6:00 A.M. Monday morning and the last two days had Snape's arrest and termination being discussed by the majority of the student body. Even Lucius' arrest was a top discussion throughout the castle, much to Draco's shock. When the students began arriving in the Great Hall for breakfast, they all spotted a brown-haired woman sitting in the spot where Snape used to sit. When Draco and his cronies walked in and spotted the woman, the Malfoy Scion felt the colour on his face draining.

"That's m-my blood-traitor biological aunt, Andromeda!" Draco squawked.

"What is she doing here?" asked Pansy.

"Perhaps the mudblood-loving headmaster asked her to take over as potions teacher," Draco guessed. "Cause she's sitting where Snape usually sits."

"Neville, that lady sitting in Snape's spot kinda looks like Dora." stated Harry.

"Yeah, that's her mother, Andromeda, or Andi for short," said Neville. "She tends to be a stay-at-home person specializing in housekeeping."

"Her name and her husband, Ted's name was on the list for potential guardians for me should something happen to my parents!" Harry remembered.

"Alright, everyone!" Dumbledore announced as everyone else began taking their seats. "Now, as you're all aware, Professor Snape was fired and arrested a couple days ago because his actions have finally caught up with him. I'd like you all to give Professor Andromeda Tonks a nice welcome, since she has kindly agreed to take over as potions teacher _and_ the Head of Slytherin House until further notice."

Many of the Hogwarts students were applauding as Andi stood up with a smile on her face. After she sat back down, everybody began eating breakfast. Harry and Neville also started wondering what Andi's teaching methods would be, since Snape also wrote half-assed instructions on the blackboard and expected everyone to know what they'd be doing, _and_ never bothered to help when it was needed. Harry and Neville knew their first lesson of the day was double potions with the Slytherins. The two Gryffindors had smirks on their faces, anticipating what would likely happen once Malfoy and his goons entered the classroom. As students left the Great Hall once breakfast ended, they saw a notice explaining that the potions classroom would no longer be taking place in the dungeons, much to the disappointment of the Slytherins who supported Malfoy and his family's beliefs. Instead, it was moved to a classroom in a corridor on the first floor. Once Harry, Neville and their fellow Gryffindors entered, they felt themselves relaxing that the environment in the classroom was much friendlier, as they took their seats.

"Good morning, class!" Andi greeted once all the students were seated.

"Good morning, Professor Tonks!" Most of the students greeted back (the only ones who didn't were Draco and his goons).

"Now, before we begin," Andi started explaining in a firm voice. "I don't know the full extent of what Snape had been doing while he was 'teaching,' but I'm going to warn you all once, and _only_ once! Sabotaging a fellow students' potions to make sure they fail their assignment won't be tolerated, nor will slacking off or having somebody else do the work for you, especially when you all work in pairs! Is that clear?"

"No!" Draco blurted out while everyone else remained silent.

"And what have I _not_ explained clearly, Mr. Malfoy?" asked Andi, turning her attention to Draco.

"The whole sabotaging someone else's potion," Draco claimed. "No one's foolish enough to do that!"

"And where did that come from, young man?!" asked Andi in a stern voice.

"Professor Snape!" Draco asserted. "He even said that Gryffindors are too arrogant to even work properly on potions and that they shouldn't even be in his classes. Snape even said that insufferable know-it-alls like Granger shouldn't be allowed here, either. Something I can agree on, since mudbloods don't…"

"That's twenty-five points from Slytherin for using that derogatory word, Mr. Malfoy!" snapped Andi. "And another twenty-five for badmouthing your fellow students!"

"What?!" asked Draco in mock confusion. "Only Slytherins are allowed to get the best grades in potions!"

"That's ridiculous, Mr. Malfoy," stated Andi. "Everyone deserves equal chances, so that'll be another twenty-five points for thinking you're better than certain people!"

"Okay, this is all just nonsense!" Draco blurted out, jumping up from his seat.

"Okay, I'll take yet another twenty-five points from Slytherin for you wasting time _and _a weeks worth of detention, Mr. Malfoy!" Andi angrily told him off, as she gestured for him to sit back down, which he reluctantly did. "If I have to get onto you for your misbehaviour again, I'll take fifty points and extend your detention by another week."

"She's just joking, Draco." Pansy semi-whispered, which was still audible somewhat, but not clearly.

"What was that, Miss Parkinson?!" asked Andi in a no-more-nonsense voice, turning her head towards Pansy.

"Nothing!" Pansy responded in a hasty voice.

"Good, you're lucky I didn't hear that or you'd be serving detentions with Mr. Malfoy. Consider that your warning, Miss Parkinson!" Andi scolded. Then she heard laughing and turned her head towards where it was coming from, which happened to be Ron. "And Mr. Weasley, that's ten points from Gryffindor for laughing at a fellow student!"

"I can't help it!" said Ron in between giggles (unaware that Hermione was glaring at him).

"Yes you can, Mr. Weasley. There's a time and place for laughing in general, but a classroom isn't one of them. Not only that, but laughing at someone no matter what is rude. Unless you want to join Mr. Malfoy in detentions, I'd suggest you pay attention!" Andi scolded Ron before addressing the rest of the students and warning them in a strict voice. "And let that and Mr. Malfoy's ridiculous behaviour be a lesson to you all. Waste any more unnecessary time and you'll suffer the consequences. If any of you Gryffindor students misbehave, I'll report it to Professor McGonagall and discuss giving you detentions myself."

'Damn!' thought Ron in a combination of shock, embarrassment and admiration. 'Professor Tonks means business.'

Strangely, Theo, Crabbe and Goyle had the good sense to obey Andi, so they sat up straight, paid attention and spoke only when spoken to. Andi's teaching methods were proven to be better than Snape's by a long-shot. She properly discussed what each potion does and even called on students to answer questions regarding the ingredients to each potion. Naturally, Hermione had her hand up and answered all of them correct, earning Gryffindor fifteen points. Then Andi divided the class and paired each student with a student from a different house to promote inter house cooperation. Harry was paired with Pansy (who looked as though that she wanted to vomit). Draco felt the same way when he was paired with Hermione. Ron was paired with Millicent Bulstrode (a bulky, slytherin girl) while Neville was paired with Daphne. Each pair had to work together to brew up an antidote to the hiccups potion.

"Alright, Potter," Pansy began telling him. "Here's how this is gonna work: You work on the antidote and I'll supervise."

"You've _got_ to be kidding me!" said Harry incredulously. "We're supposed to work together."

"We are," Pansy claimed, before changing her voice into a sweet-talk one while batting her eyes. "If you do this all by yourself, I'll give you a kiss on the lips after class."

"Sorry, but sucking up to me won't work." stated Harry.

"Miss Parkinson, what did I say about slacking off?!" scolded Andi once she approached the table Harry and Pansy were seated at.

"Uhh," Pansy stammered in embarrassment, her cheeks turning red. She underestimated the fact that Andi would be walking around the classroom making sure everyone was concentrating on their assignments. "I-It would… wouldn't be… be tolerated."

"Precisely! That'll be a weeks worth of detention and a zero, young lady!" Andi scolded before pointing to a door at the far end of the classroom. "Now, into the time-out room you go."

Pansy had no choice but to do as instructed, so she got up and walked into the time-out room. As Harry got to work, Andi formed a smile on her face when she saw that Harry was relaxed and could work without Snape there to interfere. As she walked toward the table where Draco and Hermione were seated, she approached the table when she saw Draco trying to use Hermione in the same manner Pansy tried with Harry.

"It seems like you need a reminder on what happens when you slack off, Mr. Malfoy!" Andi scolded him, then she pointed to the door leading to the time-out room. "Now, in you go! You'll also have your detentions extended by a week and a zero. Now go!"

Draco knew he couldn't try the mock-cry act, since Andi would immediately see through it, so he reluctantly followed suit and joined Pansy in the time-out room.

"Does that mean I fail too, professor?!" asked Hermione in a worried voice.

"No, Miss Granger," Andi assured in a soft voice. "You won't mind working on the assignment with Mr. Potter, will you?"

"Not at all," assured Hermione. "At least he won't try doing what Malfoy tried."

So she got up and joined Harry at his table. While he no longer considered Hermione a friend, he was still willing to work with her and be civil towards her. Andi continued walking around the classroom, so she could monitor the students' progress and keep everything under control. Hermione had no idea that Tracey (who was paired with Dean Thomas) was shooting occasional glances at her as a way of letting her know not to get on Harry's bad side. Harry and Hermione managed to get the antidote finished after a few minutes and placed it on the teacher's desk. Harry felt even more relieved to see that there was no more Snape trying to interfere with his progress and no more Snape failing him unjustly. His opinion of potions started going up, now that there was a proper teacher who did their job the right way.

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: I'd like to give a shoutout to 'forestwolf12' for suggesting that Dumbledore try to get Harry to retract the article and getting a 'better' reporter, _and_ Snape getting his comeuppance.**


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns the rest of the Harry Potter universe, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 15: Dumbledore's New, Desperate Plan**

Back in his office, Albus Too-Many-Names Dumbledore was pacing around his desk in his office. He was trying to come up with a plan to convince the Daily Prophet to retract the article that had Harry's interview on it. Then as he tapped a finger to his head twice, a smile started forming on his face. That meant trouble because Dumbledore just thought of what he believed was a wonderful (but awful) idea. So he sat back down on his chair behind his desk, got out some parchment and a quill; then he opened an ink bottle, dipped the quill into it and started writing a letter to the Daily Prophet. Instead of writing his name, Albus used Harry's to make it look like he changed his mind and wanted the article retracted. The letter read:

_Dear Barnabes,_

_It has come to my attention that I have changed my mind. I want that article about my interview to be retracted as soon as possible. The Greater Good depends on it! I had a talk with Albus Dumbledore and I realized that I've made a big mistake. Sorry to have to call in one of your editors and waste her time unnecessarily. Thank you for your cooperation!_

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Harry James Potter_

"That should do it!" said Dumbledore triumphantly, once he finished proofreading the letter. "After all, the Greater Good depends on this."

Then he called up one of the house elves working in the kitchens and asked him to deliver the letter to the Daily Prophet headquarters in Diagon Alley. The house elf took the letter, apparated over to the Daily Prophet office, handed it to the chief-in-editor: Barnabes Cuffe, and then disapparated. Barnabes opened the letter and looked over it with a baffled look on his face.

"Barnabes, is something wrong?" asked Amy when she came into his office to deliver some paperwork.

"I got a letter from Harry Potter," Barnabes replied (unaware that Dumbledore wrote it). "And he wants that article with his interview to be… retracted?!"

"Maybe I should take a look at it, I have a hunch about this!" stated Amy, as she politely took the letter from her boss's hand and looked it over, with a wide-eyed, angry look on her face. "This letter was written in Albus Dumbledore's handwriting, I recognize it! Harry couldn't have agreed to have that article retracted, otherwise he would've said something."

"Oh my!" exclaimed Barnabes, putting a hand over his mouth. "I thought it looked like his, but you made me realize that I was right all along."

"I'd better get this to Amelia," said Amy urgently. "I believe she'll have a few more choice words for the ole coot!"

So she left the Daily Prophet office and apparated over to the Ministry and over to the DMLE. Just as she was about to knock on Amelia's door, the witch in discussion opened the door to take care of some paperwork and jumped in surprise to see Amy waiting.

"Amy, what may I do for you?" asked Amelia.

"It seems like Albus wrote this to make it seem like Harry wants that article with his interview retracted," stated Amy as she handed the head of the DMLE the letter supposedly from Harry. "That very handwriting is his, I could recognize it any day."

Amelia looked over it and, indeed, it was in Albus' handwriting. Amelia thanked Amy for being it to her, then the head of House Bones got out some parchment and ink to write something. When she was finished with it and proofread what was on the parchment, Amelia folded it up and stuffed it into a red envelope (since Albus needed yet another howler), then she had one of the ministry owls take off with it in it's beak. Hopefully, Albus would be getting the howler as soon as lunchtime started, which was several hours away. Then Amelia headed down over to the ministry holding cells, so she could instruct some of the aurors to escort Severus into an interrogation room. Once Snape was brought in and secured to a chair, Amelia poured three drops of Veritaserum into the former potions master's mouth. After a minute, Severus's eyes clouded as he fell into a trance-like state.

"Is your name Severus Snape?" Amelia asked, making sure the potion was working.

"Yes." said Snape in a monotone voice.

"Did you really fail many non-Slytherin students?" asked Amelia.

"Yes," Snape replied. "Only Slytherins are allowed to have the best marks in my classes."

"So you're fine with ruining careers for many students?" asked Amelia, trying to keep her temper in check.

"Yes," Severus responded. "Especially for Potter and Longbottom. They've been the worst students above all."

"Why would that be?" asked Amelia.

"Potter is just like his arrogant father," said Severus. "And Longbottom is just way too clumsy."

"Did you have any real remorse for joining death eaters?" asked Amelia.

"Only when Lord Voldemort decided to target Lily did I switch," said Snape. "But I would've been fine with James and Harry being killed, they deserved that."

"Did you ever get a trial for your crimes and your association as a death eater?" asked Amelia.

"No," Snape revealed. "Albus spoke up in my defence and rightfully allowed Sirius to be chucked into Azkaban without a trial. I even convinced Fudge that Potter and his friends were confunded when they claimed Black was innocent. Albus even told me to treat Harry like dragon dung as much as possible, something I did without hesitation, since he wanted to set Potter up to be slaughtered."

Amelia felt her arms and legs trembling with pure rage, to the point where she ordered Snape to be given the antidote and have him returned to his holding cell, so he could await trial. Lucius was then brought out and taken to the interrogation room and given three drops of Veritaserum. A minute later, Lucius eyes began clouding as he fell into the same trance-like state.

"What's your name?" Amelia asked the Malfoy patriarch, checking to make sure the potion was working.

"Lucius Abraxas Malfoy." Lucius responded in a monotone voice.

"Did you really try to kill Harry?" asked Amelia.

"Yes," Lucius replied. "Because he tricked me into freeing my house-elf Dobby, just because I'd been abusing him and using him as a slave, not to mention giving him death threats five times a day."

"Were you really under the Imperius Curse when you were initially caught?" asked Amelia.

"No," Lucius revealed. "I just said that to be let off scot-free, without feeling any remorse for joining the death eaters."

"Are there any other crimes you're guilty of?" asked Amelia.

"Coercion," stated Lucius. "I threatened many members of the Wizengamot into voting for a hippogriff named Buckbeak to be executed, despite getting complaints that my son insulted it because he hadn't paid attention. I would've made sure the hippogriff got put down either way. There were even complaints that Draco even exaggerated his injuries just for attention and to help with my plan getting succeeded easier. Walden MacNair even willingly agreed to help execute that bloody hippogriff."

Amelia had heard enough, so she ordered Lucius to be given the antidote and be taken back over to his holding cell to await trial. Then she returned to her office to get back to filling out paperwork.

/Scene break\

Lunchtime had arrived and everyone started reporting to the Great Hall. Harry, Neville, Tori and Blaise decided to join Luna at the Ravenclaw table. Fleur also joined them, hoping to extend her circle of friends. Moments later, an owl flew into the Great Hall and dropped a red envelope in front of Albus. He widened his eyes fearfully when it turned out to be from Amelia. Knowing that delaying would worsen the situation, Dumbledore reluctantly opened the howler, which screamed:

"**ALBUS PERCIVAL WULFRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE! I RECEIVED A COMPLAINT EARLIER THAT YOU TRIED TO CONVINCE THE DAILY PROPHET TO RETRACT AN ARTICLE BY PRETENDING TO BE HARRY, JUST SO THAT ARTICLE WITH HIS INTERVIEW CAN BE TAKEN OUT! I WAS EVEN SHOWN THE FAKE LETTER WITH YOU PRETENDING TO BE HARRY, DID YOU REALLY THINKING THAT ANY OF US WOULD'VE BEEN FOOLED? THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING, IF YOU TRY TO INTERFERE WITH HARRY'S LIFE AGAIN, I'LL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO HAVE YOU ARRESTED, REGARDLESS OF THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT! YOU'LL EVEN HAVE YOUR HONOURS ANNULLED AND YOUR POSITIONS AS CHIEF WARLOCK OF THE WIZENGAMOT, SUPREME MUGWUMP OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF WIZARDS, AND HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS REVOKED!"**

The howler burst into flame once it was finished. Dumbledore darted his eyes around the Great Hall and saw many people glaring at him. Harry got up and left the Great Hall in anger, to make sure he wouldn't be tempted to give the headmaster a mouth full of broken teeth. Malfoy and his goons were snickering, having found Harry's angry state all funny and entertaining. Draco and Pansy were starting to get people laughing at them for their behaviour in potions class. The students who'd been sitting close to Harry and Pansy were talking about Pansy trying to bribe Harry with a kiss to get him to do all the work. Likewise, the ones sitting close to Draco and Hermione were discussing Draco trying a similar stunt on Hermione.

'How did Amelia find out about my letter being fake?' thought Dumbledore as he got up and returned to his office. 'Somebody had to have figured out that it was in my handwriting, but which one?'

The rest of lunch continued uneventfully and when it was over, the students began returning to their respective common rooms to get their school bags and head off to afternoon lessons. Meanwhile at the ministry, Arthur and Molly were in Amelia's office, explaining to her about Harry's visits to their house.

"It didn't even occur to us that Scabbers was Peter!" Molly told Amelia, clearly upset. "Percy was outside one day in early November and thought the rat was just an ordinary rat. The missing toe also didn't make us suspicious because it could've lost it to another animal."

"The rat was still alive by Ron's third year," Arthur started explaining. "Once I read the article about Harry's interview with Amy, everything started clicking in. I never heard of a rat living for twelve years."

"They don't," stated Amelia. "The longest I've heard of rats living would be like 4 years. Did Harry actually tell you of his living conditions?"

"I did hear Fred and George talking about it some," said Arthur. "We only heard them mentioning how the Dursleys starved him and put bars over his bedroom window."

"I did write to Albus and informed him once I heard it myself," stated Molly. "But all he wrote as a reply was that it was all taken care of and that Harry was only exaggerating."

"I don't think Albus even checks on Harry," Amelia deduced. "But does anyone ever watch Harry anytime he was over at Privet Drive?"

"That we don't know!" Arthur and Molly responded in unison.

"Well, that's one question I'll be asking him myself when I get another chance," said Amelia with determination in her voice. "Since many families wanted to look after Harry if anything were to happen to Lily and James. Albus never told anybody where Harry was staying, falsely assuring that Harry was living a wonderfully normal life."

"I'd like to give those Dursleys a piece of my mind!" Molly replied in an angry tone of voice, pounding a fist into her palm. "If they think abusing a child is normal behaviour…"

"We'll make sure they face justice, Molly," assured Amelia. "Once I also ask Albus why he continued to send Harry back to the same environment. He'll have to answer to me one way or another."

Arthur and Molly nodded their heads in acknowledgement before leaving Amelia's office. Concurrently in a shack somewhere out in the country, Remus Lupin had just finished reading the article about Harry's interview. He felt his arms and legs trembling in anger, hardly believing Albus was happy with child abuse. Remus also couldn't believe the headmaster had even been lying to him about Harry's whereabouts all along.

'You've crossed the line, Albus,' thought Remus. 'I can't believe you'd put Harry with the Dursleys when they weren't even named guardians for him in the first place! Why didn't you get a trial for Sirius set up? You are Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, but you'll likely have to step down now because of your abuse of power. Don't expect anything from me ever again, what you've been doing is unforgivable!'

Later that early evening, Uncle Vernon was just coming home and he greeted his wife after walking through the front door. Just as Aunt Petunia started getting food out to cook dinner for herself and her husband, an owl flew in through an open window and dropped a red envelope on the dining room table. After it left, Petunia went to investigate and gasped in horror when she saw the red envelope.

'Lily told me that those are howlers!' thought the Dursley matriarch as she covered her mouth. 'She even once explained that ignoring a howler would be worse.'

Uncle Vernon's face turned puce with anger to witness more 'freakishness' when he got up to see the envelope for himself, but Petunia reluctantly picked the howler and, with a trembling hand, opened it. Then the howler began screaming:

"**DURSLEYS! HOW DARE YOU TREAT THE HERO OF THE MAGICAL WORLD LIKE SHIT! YOUR BEHAVIOUR AND TREATMENT TOWARDS HARRY IS UTTERLY INEXCUSABLE, AND I'M CERTAIN LILY WOULD'VE RAISED YOUR SON WITH LOVE AFFECTION IF YOUR SITUATION WAS REVERSED! NOW YOU'D BETTER START PREPARING FOR THE WORST THAT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN TO YOU! HARRY NEVER DESERVED SUCH DESPICABLE TREATMENT FROM YOU, SO YOU'LL BE REAPING WHAT YOU'VE SOWN PRETTY SOON! MARK MY WORDS, DURSLEYS!"**

The howler burst into flames just as Petunia felt the colour on her face draining, paste-white with fright. Vernon, however, just acted all overconfident and sat back down in his armchair. Now Petunia was looking out of the windows from time to time, terrified to spot an angry mob or something out on the streets. Even closing the curtains was pointless because anytime car lights were shown shining through them, it would make Petunia's heart jump in fright.

'When the freak comes back,' Vernon mentally vowed to himself. 'I'll flay him within a fraction of an inch of his life! I'll make sure he stays in that cupboard throughout the summer holidays!'

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: I'd like to give a shoutout to the anonymous reviewer 'Nicholas' for suggesting that Dumbledore try to send a fake letter to the Daily Prophet claiming that Harry wants the article retracted, the Daily Prophet employees checking to see if it was real, Amelia getting informed of Dumbledore's crime, and Amelia warning him not to try that same stunt again by howler.**

**Also a shoutout to the anonymous reviewer 'Broken fang' for suggesting that the Dursleys receive a howler in retaliation for their abusive treatment towards Harry. I'm going to let you decide who sent the howler to the Dursleys!**


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns the rest, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 16: Professor Tonks' Secret**

Lunch was finally over and Fleur wandered over to the courtyard to see if Harry was there. It turned out to be empty, but that didn't stop the quarter-veela from finding a bench to sit on. She had been sitting there for approximately five minutes when she was greeted by none other than Draco Malfoy. Fleur raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously, since he had the sneer she'd seen on his face plenty of times ever since she and the other foreign guests arrived.

"Hey, Fleur!" Draco greeted her, with a lustful look on his face. "I was just… um, wondering if you'd like to… you know…"

"No, I don't know!" said Fleur in an irritable voice, as she folded her arms across her chest. "And I have no intentions of accepting whatever proposal you have in mind, now off you go!"

"Oh come on," Draco begged. "I think we'd be a good couple! After all, Potter corrupted Astoria into dumping me for that fat oaf known as Longbottom…"

"I beg your pardon!" snapped Fleur. "If you tried to get to know the real Harry, you'll see that he isn't what idiots like that Skeeter bitch make him out to be. That article with Harry's interview should've been a wake-up call, but I guess you're just too arrogant and overcome with hatred to ever realize it, let alone accept it, too. Tori also enjoys Neville's company and I doubt she'll ever want you."

Some commotion was heard, resulting in Draco and Fleur turning their attention towards it. It turned out to be Ron, Hermione and Ginny walking by the courtyard. The Weasley girl was talking about the day when Harry will finally realize that he'll want to be with her (still ignoring the fact that she was living in false hope), with Ron and Hermione shaking their heads in disgust. Ginny just kept on talking, not even bothering to notice the exasperated looks on Ron's and Hermione's faces.

"Looks like the blood-traitors and the know-it-all mudblood are…" Draco began sneering as he turned his attention back to Fleur, until…

_SMACK!_

The Malfoy scion found himself having received a smack to the face. It made him squeeze his eyes shut tight as he spun around and fell to the ground because of how much force had been put into it. Draco was temporarily stunned and when he came to, he slowly opened an eye to see Fleur giving him a nasty glare, with her arms trembling with rage.

"Shame on you for using such offensive terms and thinking yourself superior to many others!" Fleur growled.

"Your slap and growling sure is romantic, Fleur!" Draco responded with awe in his voice, giving the Beauxbatons champion another lustful look while trying to keep the stinging pain concealed. "Maybe you'd allow me to…"

"Go ahead!" Fleur challenged, with anger in her voice. "Go ahead and try your next stunt if you want to see what happens, I dare you!"

Assuming he had permission, Draco got back onto his feet and pulled Fleur up onto her feet, and into a forced hug. Then he groped her butt by giving both cheeks a firm squeeze while grinning lustfully. This angered the Beauxbatons champion further, so she started pummeling Draco relentlessly. He was stunned for the second time and when he came to, he saw Fleur's arms trembling heavily with pure anger.

"Did you really think I was _actually_ giving you permission?!" Fleur growled through gritted teeth. "You try that again and I'll make sure you get a second trip to the hospital wing! Other students were discussing that you used that derogatory word for muggle-borns in front of Harry and the spell he used on you in retaliation knocked you out-cold. Now get outta my sight this instant before you tempt me into clobbering you again."

All Draco could do was nod his head in a terrified manner before getting up and running off as fast as possible. Once he was out of sight, Fleur started massaging her butt cheeks to get rid of the 'Malfoy touch' that still lingered (since Draco's grasp was much too firm for the Beauxbatons champion). After she finished, Fleur left the courtyard to find Harry. Along the way, she spotted Ginny (who was now by herself) throwing yet another tantrum over Harry 'ignoring' her, but out in the open where people were likely to witness her. Spotting a suit of armour close by Ginny, Fleur found a hiding spot, carefully aimed her wand at the suit of armour and whispered a couple spells. The suit of armour started moving and it tapped the Weasley girl on the shoulder.

"Very funny, Hermione!" said Ginny sarcastically. "As if you and Ron needed to do that…"

But the suit of armour picked Ginny up by the back of her shirt before she could say any more, much to her shock. Then it put Ginny into it's arms as if it were cradling a baby before it began walking while rocking her in it's arms while the song _Rock-A-Bye Baby _was heard coming from inside the helm. Ginny tried desperately to free herself, only for the suit of armour's grasp to tighten enough to prevent it from happening. Even whining for help proved futile because the passing students would just snicker, as they had enough of the Weasley girl's childish behaviour.

"I think Ginevra enduring that for half an hour will show her what happens when you look for attention for the wrong motivation," Fleur whispered to herself in amusement. "Since she won't settle down! I just don't get why she won't accept that Harry has no intentions to ever see her in a romantic light. Let this be a lesson to you, Ginevra."

The suit armour continued walking around in the corridors, still rocking Ginny in it's arms. Once it was out of her sight, Fleur emerged from her hiding place and walked away. She found herself unable to suppress her giggles and had a hard time trying to talk because of it. Concurrently, Harry, Neville and Tori were talking with Fred, George, Lee and Demelza in a corridor on the fifth floor discussing Weasleys Wizard Wheezes.

"Hello y'all!" greeted an unexpected voice. The seven students stopped and faced the person, who turned out to be Dora.

"Hi Tonks!" the seven students greeted back. "How are you?"

"Doing good." stated Dora. Then she turned her attention to Harry and Neville and informed them, "Mum would like to speak with you two."

"Are we in trouble?" asked Harry.

"Not at all, Harry," assured Dora. "It is also involves me having to be there. That's why mum sent me to find you and Neville."

Harry and Neville nodded their heads, then they bade the other five goodbye before following Dora over to the potions classroom. As they passed random students in the corridors, alot of them widened their eyes in confusion, wondering what Harry and Neville might've done. It took Harry, Neville and Dora approximately ten minutes to reach the door to the potions classroom. The door was slightly open and Dora pushed it further, with Professor Tonks sitting behind her desk. She had been keeping watch of when the door would open, so Harry and Neville immediately knew she intentionally left the door open by a crack.

"They're here, mum." Dora informed her mother.

She closed the door and cast some locking charms and privacy wards on it while Harry sat down on chairs in front of Professor Tonks' desk. Harry caught a brief glimpse of the door leading into the teacher's quarters being open by a crack, but shrugged his shoulders as if wasn't a big deal. Dora sat down on a chair next to her mother's chair once she finished casting the necessary charms on the door.

"How are you two enjoying my classes so far?" Professor Tonks asked Harry and Neville.

"Totally better than Snape's!" Harry and Neville spoke in unison.

"I'm glad you're enjoying them!" said Professor Tonks with glee.

"I even came here to give you two some good news," Dora informed Harry and Neville. "Snape's trial will be shortly after the first of the year. It turned out that Dumbledore vouched for him, so Snape was never tried. But the ole coot left Sirius to rot in Azkaban, even though he knew darn well that Sirius wouldn't betray Lily and James."

"Does Sirius have a trial set up yet?" asked Harry eagerly.

"They're still working on it, Harry," assured Dora. "And once he gets cleared, we can catch up on all the missed moments of bonding."

"Really?" asked Harry.

"Yes, Harry," assured Professor Tonks. "Sirius and I have always favoured each other. We'd even referred to each other as our favourite cousins. Even if your parents lived, we still intended to be one big happy family. That was why alot of families in our world went haywire trying to find you. Dora even wanted to be something like an honourary big sister to you, the same way she's been with Neville."

Harry felt his jaw drop open in shock when he found out what all he hadn't been told before. The door leading to Professor Tonks' office opened up a little more and a familiar black dog began walking out and down the stairs, stopping in front of Harry. Then the dog transformed into his godfather, Sirius Black.

"Sirius!" Harry greeted as he got up and gave his godfather a hug.

"How're you doing, pup?" asked Sirius as he hugged Harry back.

"Doing better, now that Snape is gone for good," said Harry. "His getting fired and arrested was long overdue."

"You couldn't have said that any better, pup!" said Sirius in agreement.

"How'd you get in here without Dumbledore knowing?" asked Harry.

"Well, Andi was outside taking a walk a little while ago," Sirius explained. "I happened to spot her while I was in my animagus form. She immediately knew it was me and she called for one of the school elves to escort me into her office."

"Will you have to be taken to a holding cell at the ministry?" asked Harry.

"Yes," stated Sirius. "But I wanted to personally let you know that I was safe. If I'm lucky, my trial might happen before Christmas Day."

"What will you do after you get cleared?" asked Harry.

"I don't know," said Sirius. "But I still have some time to figure that out."

"Maybe you can apply to be a school governor or something, Mr. Black!" Neville suggested. "The way this school has been running is ridiculous, there needs to be some changes for once."

"That could be something!" Sirius replied in an amazed voice. "The way the ole coot has been running the school _is_ ridiculous. The whole second chances thing certainly is costly. But you can just call me Sirius, Neville. No need for the whole Mr. Black nonsense."

"I'm sorry!" Neville apologized to Sirius.

"Apology accepted, Neville!" assured Sirius in a soft voice.

"If Professor Tonks hadn't told you yet, Sirius," Harry started telling his godfather. "She has that time-out room she sent Malfoy and Parkinson for the behaviour that Snape would turn a blind eye to."

"There's more to that, Harry," Professor Tonks began explaining. "Some may also call it an alternative assignment room. If a student continues their improper behaviour to the point where I order them into that room, a desk will appear for them to sit at and write an essay on why their particular behaviour is unacceptable. Any time an additional student is sent into the time-out room, more desks will appear to accommodate the number of students in the room. They also have to stay in the time-out room for the rest of the period. All Slytherins have to go there if they misbehave or refuse to do a particular assignment in my class, since I'm head of Slytherin House. If a Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw student misbehaves in my classroom, I'll talk it over with their respective head of house to send them into the time-out room, but I'll instruct those students to first follow me into my office, so they can inform their head of house of their bad behaviour."

"It seems like Malfoy and his goons will be in for a rough time from here on out." Harry deduced.

"So far it's only been Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson who've been sent into the time-out room," said Professor Tonks. "The room also has the essay instructions on a display connected to the desk, as a way of constantly reminding the misbehaving students why they were there in the first place."

Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement, with Neville doing the same. Soon, Harry and Neville left the potions classroom while Sirius, Dora and her mother walked into the office to call for Amelia. She soon arrived with a dark-skin auror through the floo network, who placed Sirius in magic suppression handcuffs and read him his rights. Once Amelia and the dark skin auror returned to the ministry to place Sirius in a holding cell, Dora followed them so she could return to work. Andi returned to grading assignments once she was back in the classroom, to pass the time and wait for dinner time to arrive.

_To be continued!_


	17. Chapter 17

_As usual, all I own is this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns the rest, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 17: Demelza's Suggestion**

Dinner time finally arrived and everybody reported to the Great Hall. Harry joined Neville and Tori sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table closest to the double doors. Harry caught a glimpse of Tracey sitting with Daphne and Adrian, and they both smiled at each other before quickly looking away (not wanting any of Harry's enemies nor the neutral wizards and witches to find out they've been secretly seeing each other). Fleur also joined Harry, Neville and Tori, as did Fred, George, Lee and Demelza. Fleur told them about what Draco did to her earlier and how she taught him a lesson and it had all of them laughing. The students sitting close by heard Fleur and they began discussing it and spreading it around. Draco heard the others discussing about him getting pounded by Fleur, prompting the Malfoy scion into getting up and making a mad dash out of the Great Hall as his face turned red in embarrassment (with Pansy following him out). Inevitably, Professor Tonks also got wind of it, since she was eyeing Draco sternly with crossed arms as he ran out of the Great Hall.

'It looks like Monsieur Anthony Delacour may have some choice words for Mr. Malfoy!' thought Professor Tonks. 'He won't be very pleased with what Mr. Malfoy did to his daughter. But Mr. Malfoy will still be answering to me and perhaps I'll even talk with Miss Delacour, so she can explain to me the whole story.'

Professor Tonks went back to eating her meal, at the same time planning a more severe punishment for Draco. Ginny was glaring at Fleur and Demelza for talking to 'her' Harry, in which Ron and Hermione rolled their eyes in exasperation, since they spotted the suit of armour carrying Ginny like a cradled baby walking down the hallway half an hour earlier. Demelza and Fleur ignored the glares Ginny was throwing at them and continued chatting with their friends. The rest of dinner time continued uneventfully, then once everybody had their fill of dinner and dessert, Professor Dumbledore got up from the headmaster's chair and walked toward the podium.

"Attention!" Professor Dumbledore's magnified voice announced, with everyone rendered silent. "For all Hogwarts students, you're to report to your head of house's classroom, while the foreign students are to report to their head of school's rooms, where they will give you additional information about an event taking place around Christmas. Now off you go!"

Everybody got up and did as Dumbledore instructed, their curiosities pretty high as to what event would be taking place around Christmas. Harry kept a neutral expression on his face as he entered Professor McGonagall's classroom and took a seat. He saw a phonograph out in the middle of the room and the desks moved back. There were also chairs out surrounding the phonograph on a stand, which was within a ten foot radius (except for a pathway from the teacher's office to the phonograph). Neville and Lee sat down in seats next to Harry to ensure that Ginny, in particular wouldn't get to sit next to Harry (something she was disappointed in). Once all of Harry's fellow Gryffindor lions were in the classroom, Professor McGonagall walked of her office and over to the phonograph.

"Alright," Professor McGonagall started explaining. "The event Professor Dumbledore was alluding to is called the _Yule Ball_. On Christmas Eve night, we and our guests come together in the Great Hall, where we dance and interact to promote inter-school cooperation. The ball starts at 8:00 PM and lasts until 12:00 midnight, where the champions will start the ball with the opening dance. The ball is only authorized to those who are at least a fourth year, but you may invite a younger student if you wish. Now it's time to practice dancing to the waltz. I expect you all to behave like Gryffindors, I won't tolerate you all acting like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons. Now pick a practice partner."

The head of Gryffindor House getting the phonograph setup and everyone started picking a practice partner. Harry didn't have many options since most of his fellow lions believed him to have submitted his name into the goblet and he didn't trust them anymore. Demelza got to Harry before Ginny could get anywhere near him, which angered her to no end. Once Professor McGonagall turned on the phonograph and put on some classical music, the practice dancing started. Harry had a grin on his face to prove to Demelza that he was grateful that she got to him before any other girl had the chance.

"Even Fred, George and Lee encouraged me to pick you as a practice partner," Demelza explained. "Since I already know you don't trust most of our housemates because of what they did."

"Thank you for that, Demelza!" said Harry gratefully.

"You're welcome, Harry." Demelza replied. Then she curiously asked, "Do you know who you might be asking to the Yule Ball?"

"Yes, one of the Slytherin students in my year," Harry told Demelza in a whisper only audible to her. "But I'm gonna wait until the night of the Yule Ball to reveal who it is exactly."

"What if I make it look like that I'll be your date for the ball?" Demelza suggested. "To make it easier to throw everyone else off track."

"That's a great idea!" Harry replied, intrigued. "While only my friends will know who I really will be going with, that'll definitely make it easier to convince the rest that you'll be going with me."

Demelza had a smirk on her face, trying to keep her laughter in. The thought of everyone's jaw dropping open in surprise at the Yule Ball when they see who Harry's date would be was going to be too good to miss. After half an hour of practicing had passed, Professor McGonagall turned the phonograph off just as the Gryffindor students left the classroom to either head back to Gryffindor Tower or wander the corridors until it was close to curfew, though Neville waited for Harry outside.

"Lord Potter!" Professor McGonagall called to Harry while her best to keep her collywobbles in check for the moment. Once Harry turned his attention to his head of house, she began informing him, "All champions are required to have a date, as it's a tradition for the champions and their dates to start the opening dance."

Harry nodded his head in a civil manner, but otherwise remained silent. Then he turned around and left the classroom. Neville started walking next to Harry once he exited the classroom. They spotted the Gryffindor chasers waiting not too far from them. Katie Bell was a brown-haired fifth year, Alicia Spinnet was a sixth year with blonde hair, and Angelina Johnson was a dark-skin sixth year with brunette hair. Katie approached Harry and Neville, forcing the two into crossing their arms and giving Katie a suspicious look.

"Harry, would you like me to be your date for the ball?" Katie offered. "I thought I could make up to you for…"

"Oh, so you wait until this _very_ moment to think of this when you could've been by my side regardless of what everyone else said?!" said Harry irritably. What nobody knew was that Ginny was spying on Harry getting ready to rip Katie a new one. "No, I won't allow you to be my date because you, Alicia and Angelina turned your backs on me for the second time!"

"Fred, George and Lee turned your back on you, too, Harry. Remember when that happened three years ago?" Katie tried reminding him. Ginny was looking triumphant as she continued spying.

"Fred and George made it up to me shortly after my twelfth birthday, and Lee told me that he would've tagged along to do the same if he was at the Burrow at the time," stated Harry. "Didn't you read the Daily Prophet with my article in it? The part that mentioned what my so-called relatives did to me before I was rescued? Did you _even_ realize how difficult it was for me to explain what my life before Hogwarts and every summer was like? No you didn't because you thought going with the easy way in turning your back on me was necessary. If Fred, George, Lee, Demelza and Neville could stay by my side, you, Alicia and Angelina should've done the same! What would Wood say if he found out what you three did? You know he would've been on my side no matter what!"

Katie had tears in her eyes when she realized that Harry had several good points. She knew that she betrayed Harry and he was unlikely, if ever, to forgive her. Neville even glared at Katie to make it clear that there was no going back.

"If you also remember," Harry continued his rant at Katie. "You, Alicia and Angelina were by my side during the Heir of Slytherin fiasco, I even saw you three as honourary big sisters! Why the change and the decision to betray me again?"

Katie had more tears in her eyes, feeling ashamed of herself for betraying Harry. Alicia and Angelina also had tears in their eyes when they also knew Harry was discussing them and not just Katie. It made the three Gryffindor chasers realize too late what all they lost and they also knew they wouldn't be getting Harry's trust back.

"And yes, I was also referring to you two!" Harry reminded Angelina and Alicia when he turned his attention to them. "How could you turn your backs on me when I used to see you as big sisters?"

Harry walked away (with Neville in tow) without receiving an answer, leaving the Gryffindor chaser trio distraught. Ginny emerged from her hiding spot, causing Neville to stop in his tracks and keep his distance from her (remembering the day she smacked him across the face). Ron and Hermione were in hiding spots of their own, so they could observe Ginny. Harry kept his irritable look on his face in an attempt to get Ginny off his back.

"Yes?" asked Harry neutrally, when a minute or two had passed.

"Well," Ginny began speaking as she put on her best cute-girl look, smile and batting her light-brown eyes. "I was wondering if… you'd like me to be your, um… date for the Yule Ball?"

"No!" Harry screamed. "If my notice-you-not intentions going on for three years isn't a wake-up call, then what is? You're not even close to getting a yes because you continue giving me that fangirl look, you only suck up to me, and you throw numerous tantrums just because I won't pay one ounce of attention to you, which is very off-putting! Worst of all, you've never been there for me when I needed as much support as possible."

"I believe you to be innocent, Harry!" Ginny responded with her voice cracking, trying to keep her near-approaching distraught state concealed.

"Bullshit!" snapped Harry before continuing in an irritable voice. "If you really believed me to be innocent, you would've proven it! I'm pretty certain your mum and dad have taught you that actions speak louder than words. You can tell me hundreds of times that you believe me, but to that I'm gonna say _prove it_! Since you didn't bother stepping up to the plate to provide me any comfort, that's as good as saying that you dissed me, just like most of our fellow housemates."

"Come on, Harry!" Ginny pleaded desperately as she tried fighting the tears with mixed success.

"It's too late now, Ginevra!" said Harry in a firm voice. "Now quit living in that stupid fantasy of marrying the Boy-Who-Lived and start accepting reality. I'll never be interested in you in a romantic way, now I'd suggest you walk away right now before you exacerbate the ordeal!"

Harry walked away to clear his head. Neville followed Harry while keeping at least five feet away from Ginny. As the Weasley girl turned around to return to Gryffindor Tower (with tears flowing freely from her eyes), Ron and Hermione met up with her. Hermione had her arms crossed while giving Ginny an I-told-you-so look while Ron shook his head at his sister in disgust.

"We told you your efforts were gonna be wasted, Ginny!" Hermione scolded.

"SHUT UP, HERMIONE!" Ginny screamed at the top of her lungs, as more tears flowed from her eyes. Hermione cowered a bit, but otherwise she stood her ground. "YOU SET ME UP, I JUST KNOW IT!"

"We tried reasoning with you, Ginny," Ron also scolded his sister. "Harry was bound to react the way he did! You should've listened to me and Hermione instead of ignoring us."

Ginny flashed her tear-filled eyes at her brother in anger. Then she whipped her wand out and cast a charm at Ron that relaxed his bladder, resulting in him wetting his trousers. As Ginny stomped away in heartbreak (ignoring passing students sniggering at her futile attempt to convince Harry to ask her to the Yule Ball), Ron's face turned red in embarrassment as he tried to cover his 'little accident,' while Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation at Ginny's retreating back. Then Hermione cast a charm to get rid of the wet spot on Ron's trousers before they returned to Gryffindor Tower.

Concurrently, Harry returned to his makeshift quarters, with Neville walking beside him. It took them some time to get back, due to the fact that they wanted to be safe and make sure no wanted person would follow them. Once they were back in the quarters, Harry called for Winky and Piper to ask them if Tracey and Tori were interested in joining them in the makeshift quarters. So the female house elves apparated away and moments later, Winky came back with Tracey, and Piper came back with Tori.

"Hey Tori, would you like to go to the ball with me?" asked Neville.

"Yes, Neville!" Tori exclaimed as she accepted, giving him a big hug in the process. "I'm more than happy to go with you!"

"Tracey," Harry began asking, nervously. "Would you… like to… godaballwitme?"

"Sorry, Harry, I didn't get that! You said that too fast." said Tracey.

"Would you like to go to the ball with me?" Harry asked again, this time more calmly.

"Yes, Harry!" Tracey replied ecstatically. "I'll definitely go with you!"

"Champions will have to start the opening dance," Harry informed Tracey. "Will you be able to handle that?"

"Yeah, I think so," said Tracey uncertainly. "I'm more worried about what most everyone else will think."

"Demelza Robins actually offered to help out with that," Harry told Tracey. "She offered to make many people think she'll be my date during the practice for the Yule Ball."

"Oh okay," said Tracey as she felt her relaxing. "Now I want the Yule Ball to get here and see many people looking shocked when they realize it was all a misdirection."

"That'll be the day!" Tori replied while smirking.

"No kidding!" Neville agreed.

So the four teens started practicing the waltz again. Since it was just the four of them, it helped them feel at ease that they weren't around large crowds. They rotated partners occasionally, where Harry got to dance with Tori and Neville got to dance with Tracey, wanting to keep everything fair. Once curfew drew closer, Winky and Piper escorted Tracey and Tori back to their bedrooms in the Slytherin girls' dormitory (but not before giving goodnight hugs to Harry and Neville). Once Harry and Neville finished getting ready for bed and climbed into their respective beds, they couldn't get their respective dates out of their minds, so they laid on their backs and stared up into the darkness until sleep finally overtook them. Tracey and Tori also expereinced the same thing before they too fell asleep.

_To be continued!_


	18. Chapter 18

_Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 18: Draco's Worst Nightmare**

The rest of the week passed by uneventfully (for the most part, that was), except for Demelza, Fred, George and Lee talking to each other near groups of students in between classes, at mealtimes, or during free time. They were doing anything they could to make sure everyone would be fooled by Demelza's decoy duty in convincing them that she would be Harry's date. Most of the girls would glare at Demelza for 'ruining' their chances to be Harry's date. Some of them even tried asking Harry himself, only to be shot down due to the fact that even they believed Harry to have cheated his way in. Ginny even witnessed some of it and it was taking alot of willpower to avoid giving Demelza a mouth full of broken teeth. Saturday morning after breakfast, Demelza and Tori were talking about the decoy duty out in the courtyard. Daphne and Adrian heard them as they passed by and approached the two third year girls.

"Hey Tori, Demelza!" Daphne and Adrian greeted in unison.

"Hey Daphne, Adrian!" Tori and Demelza greeted back.

"You know, Demelza," Daphne began suggesting, as a smirk developed on her face. "All the glares you've been receiving from many of the girls could put you in some kind of danger. What if I offer to help be apart of your decoy duty? Maybe Adrian can help out too, if he's okay with it. Tracey even told me about Harry asking her to be his date for the Yule Ball and that she accepted."

"That's actually a good idea, Daphne," Demelza told her in an impressed voice. "It's like the more of Harry's friends who go along with this, the more confusion will start occurring and the worse it'll get."

"Then maybe we should do it." said Tori.

"I agree," stated Adrian. "The others will even start asking themselves or each other who Harry will be going to the Yule Ball with."

The discussion had the group giggling like crazy. They left the courtyard to let Harry and his other friends know (in secret) about the plan of adding fuel to the fire in the decoy duty plan. Meanwhile, Fleur was walking outside along the shores of the Black Lake. It was moments later when she crossed paths with Andi and an utterly terrified Draco Malfoy following closely.

"Hello, Andi!" Fleur greeted. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Not at all, Miss Delacour," assured Professor Tonks in a soft voice. "I was looking for you to ask you to follow me to my classroom. It seemed like Mr. Malfoy did something terrible to you the other day and I'd like you to explain the full story if you're okay with it."

Fleur nodded her head ecstatically, much to Draco's horror. He widened his eyes as his fear intensified by the second. Still, the Malfoy scion knew he had no choice but to follow Andi and Fleur over to the potions classroom. Once they were inside the classroom, Andi whipped her wand out to cast some privacy wards and locking charms on the door. Draco and Fleur sat down on chairs in front of the teacher's desk before Andi down on the teacher's chair behind the desk. Draco could feel the inside of his mouth drying up with fear as Andi glared at him.

"Alright, Miss Delacour," said Andi as she turned her attention to Fleur, giving her an encouraging nod. "What's the full story behind Mr. Malfoy's actions towards you?"

Fleur relayed everything to Andi on Draco's behaviour. As Fleur kept telling her story, Andi gave Draco one, nasty glare. Draco felt his limbs gradually losing sensation as he saw his life flash before his eyes. He knew he was in an extremely great risk for expulsion at best, and facing Lord Anthony Delacour's wrath at worst. Andi's arms and legs were trembling with anger when she found out that Draco had touched Fleur inappropriately. Andi even showed her gritting teeth at Draco to show him how angry she was. She thought Draco would learn his lesson, but now she knew he needed a much harsher lesson.

"You, young man, have just gotten yourself into even bigger trouble!" Andi told him. "As bad as touching a lady in an inappropriate spot is, you did that to Lord Delacour's daughter. Did you even think to consider the consequences while you were still ahead? I thought you were beginning to learn, but now I know that you kept up that behaviour and refused to grow up. I doubt your mother will be very happy with you for treating a lady the way you do."

"F-F-Fleur gave me permission." Draco nervously tried defending his actions.

"Did my anger give you any clue, Malfoy?" asked Fleur in anger, also glaring at him and folding her arms across her chest. "It should have, you should've thought it over better. My papa will be pressing charges against you for squeezing my bum, once he finds out about it."

"Exactly, Mr. Malfoy!" stated Andi in a no-nonsense voice. Then she pulled out some kind of box from under the desk, opened it and non-verbally cast a charm that caused some specified slips of parchment to fly out and onto the desk. After she read them, she looked up at Draco once more and angrily addressed him. "That was a complaint box, where students can file a complaint on a slip of parchment about problems from fellow students, such as being bullied for example. Lord Harry Potter secretly told me about the complaint box the other day. The slips I was looking over were _all_ from Miss Astoria Greengrass. The complaints she filed informed me of you touching and/or squeezing her bottom relentlessly with a lustful expression on your face, smacking her across the face anytime she tried steering clear of you or when she refused to sit by you at meal times, and forcing her to remove all of her clothes so she'd be in her undergarments in the common room, in plain view? One evening after dinner, I even heard her telling her sister how humiliated she felt to do that."

Draco pathetically tried to keep his collywobbles concealed, but Andi wasn't fooled in the slightest. She got up and walked into her office, making sure to close her door and cast the necessary charms so the Malfoy scion wouldn't hear what would happen. Moments later, Draco saw his mother pulling the door open with an outraged look on her face. Narcissa grabbed her son by one of his ears and dragged him into the office, with Draco seething in pain. Fleur was watching the ordeal with amusement on her face, seeing Draco finally getting more of his just rewards. Once in Andi's office, Narcissa practically threw her son onto a chair as she also glared at him. Anthony Delacour stepped out of the fireplace, followed by Dennis Greengrass a couple minutes later. Even they were glaring at Draco, making sure there wouldn't be any mercy.

"How do you explain this outrageous behaviour of yours, young man?" Narcissa demanded her son. "I find it hard to believe that you would treat a lady like a trophy or an object rather than a person! I didn't raise you to behave that way, young man, and you'd better be ashamed of yourself!"

"And as it turns out, Draco," Dennis angrily told him. "That whole marriage contract as a repayment ordeal had been a bluff, your father just wanted more power, wealth and fame. There wasn't any debt I had to repay."

"Exactly, Draco," Narcissa told her son in anger. "After your father had been arrested, I spent hours after hours _after_ hours looking for any sort of clue about Dennis being forced to have Astoria married to you as a debt repayment. There was none, Lucius was just looking for excuses to gain more wealth, fame and higher status."

"You're in so much trouble that you're likely going to die in prison!" Anthony berated Draco. "Sexual harassment of my daughter will result in you facing trial at the french ministry, especially since I work there. She also wrote a letter to me the other day explaining what you did. Did you think I was going to allow you to get away with that?"

"Not only that, but doing the same countless times to Tori will have you face trial here first," Dennis informed Draco, his voice still filled with anger. "And finding out about you committing assault and battery on her many times by smacking her across the face will add more to your record. Your father is in just as much trouble."

So the adults walked into Andi's private quarters to discuss Draco's fate. Once they came back into the office, Andi fire-called Albus to inform him of Draco's inexcusable behaviour. Once Albus stepped out of the emerald-green flames, Andi fire-called Amelia to have her bring some aurors over to arrest Draco. After Amelia and the few aurors arrived, Albus motioned with his hands at Draco as if to tell him to hand his wand over (something Draco only did reluctantly).

"You're hereby expelled from Hogwarts, Mr. Malfoy!" Dumbledore declared as he snapped Draco's wand in half.

"Draco Malfoy, you're under arrest for multiple counts of assault and battery, sexual harassment, and suspicions of conspiracy!" Amelia informed the Malfoy scion as he found himself with wands pointed at him and was placed in magic suppression handcuffs. "Now Draco, you don't have to say anything, as it may harm your defence in court. Anything you choose to say can be given in evidence."

Draco was led out to be taken outside the wards to be apparated over to the ministry and into custody to await his trials. Amelia gave Albus a suspicious look before leaving, to let him know that she had her eye on him. Albus developed a fearful expression on his face, knowing Amelia was one, tough witch. Andi also gave the headmaster a similar look, since she never trusted the ole coot because of placing Harry with abusive relatives and ruining Dora her chance to be an honorary big sister to him. Dumbledore left the potions classroom and back to his office. Anthony also went to check on Fleur, then he left to return to the french ministry when she assured her father that she was alright.

Concurrently, Ginny was wandering the corridors by herself. Ron and Hermione had been keeping their distance from her even more than usual, much to Ginny's dismay. The Weasley girl couldn't walk anywhere all that much without being reminded by her peers that Harry never would've shown romantic interest in her, _and_ the fact that she caused Ron to wet his trousers in retaliation for his reminders about how Harry would react if she tried to convince him to ask her to the Yule Ball. Ginny wanted to clobber anyone who dared to inform her that she would never be with Harry because (in her delusional mind) Harry was her knight in shining armour and always would be. Just when she thought that things couldn't get any worse, she crossed paths with her mother. The expression on her mother's face made Ginny realize that she was the reason her mother was there.

"You'd better follow me right now, young lady!" Molly ordered her daughter.

Ginny nodded her head obediently before reluctantly following her mother over to an abandoned classroom. Once they were in one, Molly closed the door before casting privacy wards and locking charms on it. Then she pointed a finger to a chair as a way of ordering her daughter to take a seat. Ginny saw the hint and sat down, just as her mother started pacing back and forth in front of her, with her hands behind her back. Once she stopped in front of Ginny, Molly faced her daughter with her arms folded across her chest with an angry look on her face.

"Do you care to explain this behaviour of yours, young lady?" Molly began berating her daughter. "What made you think causing Ronald to wet his trousers was the right solution? I was also informed that you smacked Neville across the face a couple weeks ago. In fact, Harry even sent me a letter informing me about your childish behaviour and how you think he is your boyfriend. What have you got to say for yourself?"

"Well, they kept lying to me about Harry never being interested in me!" Ginny whined. "Everyone knows Harry and I are meant for each other!"

"Don't give me that attitude, young lady!" Molly snapped. "You know darn well that those were stories your father and I would tell you when you were five. We never said that it would happen for real. You're thirteen years old, Ginevra Molly Weasley, not a little child anymore. Now I suggest you start acting like someone your age before you exacerbate the situation. If I get one more complaint about you assuming that Harry is yours and yours only, I may just pull you out of Hogwarts altogether and have you live with your great-great aunt Muriel, along with getting you a private tutor. If Harry even has a better idea for a proper punishment for you, your father and I will agree with it, have I made myself clear?"

"I guess," Ginny responded with uncertainty. "But Harry would never…"

"Okay, then I'll just march up to Dumbledore's office and inform him that you wish to be expelled," said Molly. "And…"

"Okay, okay!" Ginny reluctantly agreed, putting her hands up in defeat. "I'll be good."

"Good choice, young lady!" Molly responded in a satisfied voice, before warning her daughter in a serious voice, "But remember, one more complaint about your rambunctious behaviour and I'll tell Dumbledore to expel you."

Then the Weasley matriarch left the classroom and outside the school wards to apparate back to the Burrow. Ginny remained seated, as she still believed that Harry would eventually notice her and ask her to be his girlfriend (thus she continued living in false hope).

'I just know Harry will come to me, I'll wait!' thought Ginny. 'As long as I'm behaving, he'll realize that I'm not bad at all. I know he'll soon change his mind!'

Back in his makeshift quarters, Harry and Tracey were practicing the dance for the Yule Ball. Tracey was also practicing on keeping her concentration on Harry, since she knew worrying about the crowd watching her wouldn't do any good.

"I want you to tag along to shop for dress robes, Harry," said Tracy. "But given that decoy duty plan Demelza came up with, I also don't wanna ruin that in any way. If we went to Hogsmeade together, it would make our fellow students and our teachers suspicious."

"Maybe you, Daphne and maybe Tori should have some girl time," suggested Harry. "When you go to try on dress robes. Maybe you can surprise me with what kind of dress robes you end up picking."

"Excellent idea, Harry!" Tracey replied in an impressed tone of voice. "I'll have to think long and hard on the kind of dress robes I wish to get."

Harry nodded his head in agreement, then he and Tracey resumed the practice for the champions' opening dance for the Yule Ball. Meanwhile, Narcissa had just walked out of the Slytherin common room after getting her son's belongings out, which told everyone that Draco had been expelled (though, they didn't yet know that he had also been arrested). Most of the student body (especially the pure-blood Slytherin fanatics) kept their distance in fear because Narcissa had so much pure rage inside her that others believed she would take it out on them. It didn't take long before word about Draco's expulsion started spreading and it was now the top discussion throughout the castle.

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: I'd like to give a shout-out to 'setokayba2n' for suggesting that Harry inform Molly by letter about Ginny's childish attitude.**

**Also a shout-out to 'Phoedra135' for suggesting that Fleur send a letter to her father informing him about Draco's actions towards her. While I had Lord Delacour personally confront Draco, the main idea belongs to Phoedra135.**


	19. Chapter 19

_Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns the rest, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 19: The Yule Ball**

Narcissa returned to Andi's office after getting her son's stuff from his room in the Slytherin boys' dorms, where the fourth year Slytherin boys' rooms were located, and putting Draco's belongings in a bottomless bag before shrinking it to pocket size. Narcissa was even more outraged with her son because she also found dozens of handwritten notes that listed not only everything Draco had been doing to Tori and three of them mentioning Lucius having spiked Narcissa's drinks with loyalty potions without her knowledge and the countless amount of times Draco started fights with Harry, resulting in the soon-to-be former Malfoy matriarch turning red in the face in heavy embarrassment. Once she was back in Andi's office, Narcissa showed her sister the handwritten notes Draco written.

"More evidence against Draco," Andi responded, her eyes widening in shock. "And also more evidence against Lucius."

"He must've used spells to make sure that traces of loyalty potions would be hidden," Narcissa deduced. "I thought he loved me, but it turned out to be a lie."

The two sisters gave each other hugs (with Narcissa apologizing at the same time, for her lack of support and staying in touch). Before leaving, Narcissa also assured Andi that from now on, she'd be making sure to stay in touch and be supportive. At the same time, Harry and Neville were in the social room (a room located on the fourth floor, for students to go to for socializing with other students outside their own house, _and_ socializing with foreign students) with Terence.

"Susan is right over there, Terence," said Harry with encouragement in his voice, pointing to where she was sitting. "There's no need to be nervous, just go ask her."

"Wh-What if she says no?" asked Terence in a worried voice.

"You won't know until you find out," said Harry. "If you wait too long, somebody else may get to her first."

He and Neville gave Terence thumbs up as another way to encourage him. Taking a deep breath, Terence walked over to where Susan was.

"Hi, Susan!" Terence greeted, trying his best to relax.

"Hi, Terence!" Susan greeted back with a smile. "How are you?"

"Good," said Terence. "I was won-wondering if you'd like… to… um…"

"Like to what?" asked Susan politely.

"W-Would you like to go to the Yule Ball with m-me?" Terence asked, keeping his collywobbles under control.

"Yes!" Susan responded ecstatically, much to Terence's excitement (he smiled as he felt his heart beating). "I'd love to go with you!"

"What time would you like me to wait outside your common room entrance?" asked Terence. "The night of the Yule Ball, that is."

"Maybe around 7:00 PM," Susan suggested. "Since the ball doesn't start until 8:00, that'll give us some time to get ready."

"Well, okay," Terence replied. "But what corridor is the Hufflepuff common room located in?"

"I'll show you the way." stated Susan.

She politely grabbed one of Terence's hands and dragged him behind her. Harry and Neville were grinning as they watched, happy to see Terence having succeeded. Moments later, Harry and Neville spotted a girl with dark-coloured eyes, a prominent chin and long, curly black hair, walking up to them. Harry and Neville vaguely recognized her because she was a fellow Gryffindor lion, but they didn't know her name.

"Hello, Harry!" the girl greeted as she flashed a smile on her face, with some arrogance in it. "I'm Romilda Vane, the lady of your dreams."

"What?!" asked Harry in bewilderment.

"I'm the lady of your dreams," Romilda professed, her grin still showing some arrogance. "The kind of lady you'll be happy with for eternity."

"Wait a minute!" Harry blurted out incredulously. "You can't just assume that you're the lady of my dreams, you have to work for it. Ginevra already thinks that I'm _her's_ and I don't need anybody else declaring the same thing you said."

"Well, the Yule Ball will be the perfect time for me to prove that I'm the right one for you." Romilda claimed.

"First Ginevra, and now _you_?!" Harry exclaimed, the other students in the social room stopping what they were doing and watching the ordeal with deep interest. "How many more fangirls is it gonna take to make others realize that I'm not a prize to be won? Nobody should have to worry about people treating them as a prize!"

"I wouldn't do that, Harry." Romilda claimed again.

"You are going to walk away from me and Neville right now!" Harry insisted through gritted teeth, wide-eyed with anger. "If I hear one more word from someone implying me to be a prize to be won, there's gonna be _hell_ to pay. Consider this your warning, Vane, now get lost before I'm tempted to make sure your worst nightmare comes true."

Romilda reluctantly turned around and walked away, at the same time, she had to deal with some of her fellow students snickering at her. Sometime after lunch, Tracey and the Greengrass girls returned to the Slytherin common room from the owlery and over to Daphne's room, with boxes containing their dress robes. As soon as the girls were in Daphne's room, Daphne cast locking charms and privacy wards on her door before they started opening the boxes. Tracey's dress robes were blue, Daphne's were silver, and Tori's were green. They spent the next fifteen minutes or so trying them on, to see how they looked and fit. Once they were satisfied with their respective dress robes, Tracey and the Greengrass girls left Daphne's room and out of the Slytherin common room to find something to do to pass the time before dinner.

/Scene break\

The night of the Yule Ball finally arrived. Harry and Neville spent some time getting ready and changing into their dress robes. Harry's dress robes were emerald-green while Neville's were silver, along with black formal jackets and black trousers. The teachers and staff were in the Great Hall getting it set up for the special occasion. Not long after the setup was finished, some of the first students began arriving. Ron was going with Hermione while Ginny was invited by Seamus Finnigan, a sandy-brown haired Gryffindor boy who had been known to either explode or set things on fire. Once the Weasley twins, Lee and Demelza arrived in the Great Hall, many of the students began discussing who Harry's date really was.

'Robins claimed that Harry was going with her!' thought Ginny, glaring at Demelza (who had her back turned). 'How could she do such a thing? Now that she ruined my chances of being with my Harry, she'll be answering to me after the ball is over.'

Meanwhile, Harry and Neville finished getting ready and had Dobby and Oreo escort himself and Neville over to a classroom on the first floor close to the moving staircases. After checking to make sure the coast was clear, Harry and Neville left the classroom and walked over to the staircase leading down into Slytherin territory. Terence started climbing up the stairs moments later and, after he gave Harry and Neville thumbs ups (and them returning it), began walking over to the corridor where the Hufflepuff common room was located. Several more minutes later, Adrian and Daphne, arm in arm, began climbing up the stairs (with Tracey and Tori following close behind). Neville offered an arm to Tori, who immediately accepted by hooking one her arms in Neville's and followed Adrian and Daphne to the Great Hall. Harry held an arm out for Tracey, who immediately linked one of her arms over Harry's. As they tried to find the waiting room for the champions, they crossed paths with Professor McGonagall (who widened her eyes in surprise, since she was among the many others who believed Demelza would be Harry's date).

"Lord Potter, I've been instructed to show you and your date to the room where the other champions and their dates are waiting," the deputy headmistress informed Harry and Tracey. "If you two will follow me, please."

Harry and Tracey nodded their heads in acknowledgement without saying a word, then they followed Professor McGonagall. Upon walking in, Harry and Tracey saw that Fleur's date was Roger Davies (a brown-haired sixth year Ravenclaw boy, who was also their quidditch captain). Cedric's date was Cho Chang (a fifth year Ravenclaw asian girl), and they both looked at Harry with indifference and then Tracy with surprise. Viktor's date happened to be Padma Patil (a fourth year Ravenclaw indian girl, who's twin sister, Parvati was a Gryffindor). Fleur was smirking when she saw Harry and Tracey, since she was one of the handful of students who knew it was going to happen. At five minutes till eight, the champions and their dates started lining up with Fleur and Roger at the front, Viktor and Padma behind them, then Cedric and Cho, and finally Harry and Tracey at the rear.

"Alright," Professor McGonagall began instructing the champions and their dates. "Now's the time to report to the Great Hall to start the opening dance."

The champions and their date (arm in arm) started walking toward the double doors leading to the Great Hall. They could hear music starting to play, signalling the start of the Yule Ball and the champions arriving with their dates. As soon as the double doors opened, the other students began backing away from the door to allow the champions and their dates to walk towards the middle for the opening dance. As the champions and their dates walked in, many students gasped in utter shock and dropped their jaws open when they saw who Harry's date happened to be. At least 75% of the gasps came from a countless number of girls, which made it hard for Harry and Tracey to resist the urge to smirk. Ginny stood next to Seamus while staring at Harry and Tracey incredulously, an eyelid twitching several times.

'So that slithering snake bitch was my Harry's date all along!' thought Ginny with realization. 'I can't believe she had the nerve to corrupt him and ruin my chance for a happily ever after, especially since I was keeping up that good behaviour to impress my Harry and see when he would change his mind. First chance I get, she'll be answering to me.'

It was taking Ginny everything she had not to hex or strangle Tracey, but it didn't stop the Weasley girl from watching Harry dance with Tracey in pure jealousy. Seamus was getting annoyed with Ginny ignoring him in favour of staring at Harry and Tracey dancing in pure jealousy. Ginny went to get some punch for herself while peeking glances at Harry and Tracey continuing the opening dance with the other champions and their dates. Seamus approached the punch bowls to get some punch himself and glared at Ginny for ignoring him.

"Are we gonna dance at all, Ginevra?" asked Seamus irritably. "Or are you just gonna continue staring at Potter?"

Ginny either didn't hear Seamus or was deliberately ignoring him. By the time the champions' opening dance concluded, Seamus lost his patience. Since Ginny continued to ignore him, Seamus picked up a bowl of red punch and angrily poured the entire thing over Ginny's head in retaliation before storming out of the Great Hall. Ginny involuntarily squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she felt the tasty beverage pouring onto the top of her head and flowing down her sea-green dress robes. Upon wiping the punch away from her eyes, Ginny opened her eyelids to see her punch-soaked dress robes while standing in the middle of the puddle on the floor. Upon looking up, Ginny spotted Fred, George, Lee and Demelza in front of her.

"How could you just do that stupid decoy thing, Robins?!" Ginny growled at Demelza. "Everyone knows how much Harry means to me!"

"To teach you a lesson," stated Demelza. "Cause you can't get everything you want."

"That's right, Ickle Ginnykins!" Fred and George spoke in their twin talk, in serious tones of voices. "Harry will never think of you as a romantic partner, you should've known that a long time ago. Most of our fellow students think you're crazy enough as it is, so quit living in that fantasy because you won't get anywhere just by wishing and dreaming something."

Ginny turned around and stomped out of the Great Hall, leaving a trail of dripping punch behind her due to her dress robes still covered in the tasty beverage. Once Ginny was out of sight, Fred, George, Lee and Demelza went out towards the dance floor to join Harry and the rest of their friends. Once Ginny was inside of an empty classroom, she cast the locking charm and privacy wards on the door before throwing one massive tantrum, in the form of banging on desktops with her fists and kicking chairs over as tears flowed from her eyes.

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" screamed Ginny, waving her fists around violently. "IT'S JUST NOT FAIR! I'VE SPENT THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS BEHAVING TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITIES AND MY HARRY HAS BEEN BRAINWASHED INTO ATTENDING WITH A BITCH FROM SLYTHERIN! I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EFFORTS WERE WASTED UNNECESSARILY, COMBINED WITH A STUPID FOURTH YEAR POURING AN ENTIRE BOWL OF PUNCH ALL OVER ME JUST TO HUMILIATE ME FURTHER! THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING I CAN OFFER HARRY THAT HE CAN'T REFUSE! HOW MANY MORE FAILS WILL IT TAKE FOR MY DREAMS TO COME TRUE? WILL ANYBODY WILLINGLY TAKE MY SIDE AND AGREE THAT HARRY IS MINE?!"

As Ginny continued her hissy fit, Dumbledore was eyeing Harry dancing with Tracey intently. The last couple weeks or so was hard because he could tell that Demelza was up to something. The headmaster usually wasn't fooled easily and it threw him for a loop to see who Harry's date turned out to be. Since the tournament was almost halfway finished, Dumbledore began thinking of another plan while keeping up the grandfather facade.

'Well, since the second task isn't for another couple months,' thought Albus. 'That'll be plenty of time to think up a foolproof plan to get Harry back under control. That should give Harry some more time to prepare for his destiny for the Greater Good. He'll soon realize how much I've been trying to help him out.'

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: I'd like to give a shoutout to 'forestwolf12' suggesting that Ginny throw a massive tantrum over realizing who Harry's date for the Yule Ball turned out to be. While I already planned for it to happen a while back, I'm still giving 'forestwolf12' half the credit for the suggestion.**


	20. Chapter 20

_Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic, everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended!_

**Warning: Intoxicated moments in this chapter. If it bothers you, don't read!**

**Chapter 20: The Last Of Pansy Parkinson**

Back at the ministry, some aurors strolled by Sirius' holding cell and informed him that his trial would be starting soon. With a happy grin, Sirius willingly held his hands out as he was placed in magic suppression shackles and escorted to courtroom three. Sirius grinned more to see Andi there, sitting next to her daughter in the visitors section. He immediately knew that the trial was meant to surprise Harry, judging by Andi's smirk on her face. As soon as he was secured in the defendant's chair, Sirius granted permission to be given Veritaserum. Then once the potions effects kicked in, Sirius explained how he wasn't the Potters' secret keeper, and that Peter was. Sirius even went on to explain that he went to confront him, only for Peter to frame him by causing the explosion that killed the twelve muggles, and then transforming into his rat animagus to flee. Sirius also admitted to being an unregistered animagus himself and explained how he and James felt that being unregistered would've been a huge advantage in spying on the death eaters. The members of the Wizengamot got up and reported to a meeting room, then they came back after a few minutes to reveal their decision, just as Sirius was given the antidote to Veritaserum.

"We find the defendant _innocent_!" Amelia announced.

"Sirius, you are hereby cleared of all charges and will be given one-point-two million galleons in compensation," Minister Cornelius Fudge told him, then warning him, "However, you have seven days to register as an animagus. If you don't, then we'll have no choice but to have you arrested again."

"How about if I have you keep two-hundred thousand galleons and I get registered after my trial is over?" Sirius offered.

"You've got yourself a deal, Sirius." said Cornelius.

He banged his gavel to signal the end of the trial. Once Sirius was freed from the shackles, he walked up to Andi and Dora, both whom greeted him with a hug (and Sirius returning them). Then they left the courtroom and over to the animagus registration room. After Sirius got himself registered as an animagus, he and Andi returned to Hogwarts. The two planned to wait until tomorrow morning to surprise Harry. Meanwhile, Harry and his friends continued dancing in the Great Hall. Alot of girls continued staring at Tracey in jealousy for being Harry's date, but otherwise let it be. Harry even got a chance to dance with Fleur, Daphne, Tori, Luna, Demelza and Susan to promote fairness. Ron and Hermione were staring at Tracey in a mixture of shock and amazement.

'Wow, I'm impressed how Harry and Tracey pulled their stunt off!' thought Hermione.

'Is it me or did Harry keep his Slytherin traits hidden?' thought Ron in bewilderment.

Hermione got up to leave due to the guilt she was feeling of having turned her back on Harry. She could feel tears welling up in her chocolate-brown eyes as the guilt worsened. Hermione found an empty classroom and walked in, making sure to lock the door and cast privacy wards on the door. Then she sat down on a desk, put her head down into her arms and began crying.

'I really screwed up!' thought Hermione in despair. 'Harry needed as much support as possible and I was ungrateful to him. When he and I went to rescue Sirius, it _did_ feel rather nice to have my arms wrapped around Harry's waist. But I was foolish to throw the opportunity of being his girlfriend away, and now Tracey has that potential. Why did I do this to myself?'

However, there were some approaching problems far worse than Hermione's situation. Pansy eyeing Harry with extreme lust (which had been going on since she tried to bribe him with a kiss on the lips during the first potions lesson taught by Professor Tonks). In an attempt to ensure that her plan would work, Pansy checked on Harry (who was dancing with Fleur at the moment) with a lustful grin and headed for a nearby empty corridor. After checking to make sure the coast was clear, Pansy brought out two twelve-ounce bottles of red currant rum and (after kicking her high heels off) started drinking the alcoholic beverage. Once she finished off both bottles, the now-drunk Slytherin girl began waddling her way back to the Great Hall. It took some time due to being drunk, but somehow, Pansy managed to make it back. As she approached Harry still dancing with Fleur, Pansy threw her drunken self in between the two, much to their bewilderment and that of everyone in the Great Hall.

"I fink I'll juff… _hic_... dancth wiff Pother meow!" Pansy informed Fleur. Then the drunk girl grabbed Harry's arms and tried to dance with him in the state she was in (with a belch). "Hey Hawwy, I'th beed… _hic_... wanning to do thith thince that kith… _hic_... I offerth you that pothins lethon with Protheffor Donks."

"Alright Parkinson," Harry replied in a serious tone of voice, trying to free himself from Pansy's clutches. "What did you do to yourself?"

"Come now, Hawwy!" Pansy continued her drunken explanation. "I'th peen twying… _hic_... to get on yo good-ith thide."

"She's drunk!" Luna blurted out in shock, with everyone else in the Great Hall gasping with realization.

"You bed yo arth I um!" Pansy replied as she turned her attention to Luna. "It thook knee thince firth year to… _hic_... weelize dat I love Hawwy for da wongeth thime… _hic_… an I neffa thelf so gwead… _hic_…"

It didn't take long before Pansy threw up in plain view of everyone in the Great Hall. The teachers and staff shook their heads in disgust while the students were snickering. Pansy was continuing to exacerbate the ordeal in her drunken state by stumbling onto Luna. As the drunk girl tried to pull herself up, she vomited again. This time, it was all over Luna's dress robes. Luna looked as though she wanted to cry, feeling humiliated to have Pansy throw up all over her in front of many people. As soon as Pansy backed away, Harry quickly pulled his wand out and cast a charm to get rid of the vomit stains on Luna's dress robes, as though they never got barfed on. Still, Luna's eyes were welling up with tears despite trying her best not to cry. Blaise quickly led Luna out of the Great Hall and over to an empty classroom.

"Hawwy ith muth… _hic_... bedder van Malthoy!" Pansy replied, still intoxicated. "I theel dat I thouldth wet him mow… _hic_… how mudth he meanth to be. Baybe I can-ith… _hic_… debonstwate id foe hib."

Pansy began stripping down to her bra and panties in front of countless people, causing the teachers to shake their heads in exasperation. As soon she was down to her bra and panties, Pansy tossed her dress robes right in front of Harry's feet and started dancing _very_ crudely. Pansy was even cheering as if she was watching her favourite sports team. Harry and his friends backed away as Pansy became more and more unruly. She staggered over to the punch bowls, picked one up and poured the entire thing all over herself before continuing her crude and unruly dancing for Harry. Since she was still intoxicated, Pansy didn't realize that the punch was charmed to be ice-cold (as if the beverages had ice in them). Due to the fact that she still had rum in her system, it was causing her body to lose heat and making her shiver. It didn't take very long for Pansy to go into hypothermia and having alcohol in her system made it worse (her shivering becoming more violent made it clear). As the cold overtook her body, Pansy felt her insides turning stiff as ice. She eventually collapsed and fell backwards, not moving any part of her body.

"Is she…?!" Tori began asking, too shocked to finish the question.

"It seems to be!" Neville answered, knowing what Tori's question was.

The teachers approached Pansy's body to check for any vital signs of life. When they realized that Pansy was dead, Professor Dumbledore sent a patronus to the mediwizards of St. Mungo's to inform them what had happened. Professor McGonagall announced that the rest of the Yule Ball would be cancelled due to the circumstances, so the students headed back to either the common rooms, the Beauxbatons carriage or the Durmstrang ship. Some of the students decided to go to an empty classroom to continue the Yule Ball. Harry, Neville, Tracy and Tori headed back to Harry's private quarters to continue the rest of their Yule Ball by themselves. The mediwizards arrived at the castle and over to the Great Hall, where they put Pansy's dead body on a conjured stretcher and covering it with a white sheet to give the dead some respect. The teachers went to investigate where Pansy was when she got drunk. As the mediwizards carried the stretcher with Pansy's body on it away to the wizarding medical examiners, the teachers and staff found the corridor Pansy was in while drinking the rum (indicated by her high heels and the two empty rum bottles nearby).

"How did Miss Parkinson smuggle all this rum in here?!" asked Professor McGonagall in bewilderment.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Minerva," said Albus. "We'll never be able to figure it out, since Miss Parkinson passed away."

"But she got herself into that situation," said Professor Sprout matter-of-factly. "Plus, her behaviour would have resulted in her expulsion. Not just for smuggling contraband into the castle somehow, but also for disorderly conduct and indecent exposure."

The teachers and staff returned to the Great Hall to clean up the mess Pansy created, and get the Great Hall back to it's proper set up. Albus called for one of the school house elves to get Pansy's stuff over to his office so he can figure out what to do with it when he had the time. Back in his private quarters, Harry and Neville continued dancing with their dates while taking turns switching dance partners. During one moment where Harry and Tracey were dancing, she lost her balance and Harry tried to help her back onto her feet. In the process, Harry lost his balance and fell backwards onto the couch, accidentally pulling Tracey with him. That also cause Harry and Tracey to inadvertently kiss each other on the lips, much to Neville and Tori's excitement. Harry and Tracey widened their eyes in shock to see that they kissed each other, resulting in the two pulling themselves away as they felt their cheeks radiating heat. Their cheeks were also red in embarrassment as they smiled sheepishly.

"I'm so sorry, Trace!" Harry quickly apologized. "It was an accident."

"I'm sorry too, Harry!" Tracey apologized, her voice in high-pitch. "But for some odd reason, it felt good."

"Yeah, it did." Harry admitted. Then he asked, "What does that mean?"

"Harry, that means that you and Tracey are meant for each other," Neville told his godbrother. "If you really wanna find out, you and Tracey should kiss each other again."

"Go for it, Harry," said Tori in an encouraging voice. "If you don't, you'll never truly find out for yourself."

Knowing they were right, Harry pulled Tracey back towards him and kissed her on the lips again. Tracey felt her heart melting as they kissed again, this time it lasted longer and felt like a real one. Neville and Tori were grinning happily to see Harry and Tracey finally figuring out their feelings for each other. As they continued kissing, Harry and Tracey felt their hearts beating faster than usual, they also lost some sensation in their arms and legs due to the excitement. When they finished kissing, Harry and Tracey collapsed on the couch but still felt like they were in their own world.

"Don't tell Daph about this, Tori!" Tracey mock-warned her while grinning.

"She's gonna find out sooner or later, Trace," said Tori in a matter-of-fact voice, also grinning. "She and Adrian might be doing the same thing. Heck, Terence and Susan could be as well."

"Then I'll tell her when I get the chance," stated Tracey. "But that kiss got tiring for me and Harry."

Harry and Tracey still felt their heads spinning from the kiss. Meanwhile, Ron returned to Gryffindor Tower after trying to find Hermione without success. While there wasn't any indication that Ginny returned, Ron didn't care since he was already getting tired of his sister's tantrums. At the same time, he couldn't figure out what Pansy's motives were and why she would drink two bottles of the alcoholic beverage, since her vomiting implied it. Like most of the student body, Ron didn't feel any sympathy for Pansy since she got herself into the situation that led to her untimely death. Just as Ron sat down on the couch, Hermione entered the common room. Her eyes were red, which told Ron that she had been crying.

"You okay, Hermione?" asked Ron.

Hermione shook her head as she sat down next to Ron, then she replied in a still-upset voice, "No, watching Harry dancing with Tracey in particular made me feel even more guilty for abandoning him in his time of need. When we rescued Sirius, it felt good to have my arms wrapped around his waist. The potential to be his girlfriend is now lost forever."

"Yeah, and I've lost my best mate. Now Neville has that position," said Ron with guilt in his voice. "While I have no interest in dating anyone, it's probably a good thing you and Harry aren't a couple because Ginny would go ballistic. She's far too determined to be the future Lady Potter to ever accept reality. Ginny may even try to take Davis out for 'stealing her Harry' away, as she would put it."

"If Ginny doesn't quit while she's still ahead, then she may end up in a similar situation Malfoy found himself in," said Hermione. "It'll embarrass your dad especially, since he works for the ministry."

"And I did that a couple years ago for taking the car and talking Harry into it," said Ron. "I should've been grateful to Harry for not selling me out."

Then Ron told Hermione what all happened in the Great Hall after she left. Hermione shook her head in disgust at how foolish Pansy was to pull the stunt with the rum, especially since it cost her her life. Fred, George, Lee and Demelza returned several minutes later to get ready for bed, since it was already late. Back in his private quarters, Harry and Neville got ready for bed after Winky and Piper escorted Tracey and Tori respectively back to the Slytherin common room. Once Harry climbed into bed, it didn't take long for him to fall asleep. Harry had yet to find out that Sirius was in the castle, in Professor Tonks' quarters. As part of their plan, Sirius was going to wait until breakfast tomorrow before surprising Harry and informing him of how the trial went.

_To be continued!_

**Author's note (2/27/20): I changed the amount of rum that Pansy had to two 12 oz. bottles, since it would've killed her long before reaching eight, pointed out by the user 'Jake Crepeau.' I apologize for any inconvenience.**


	21. Chapter 21

_Disclaimer: All I own is this fanfic, everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling. No copyright intended!_

**Chapter 21: Remus' Confrontation**

The next morning, Harry and Neville left their private quarters and started heading to the Great Hall. Once they were in, Harry and Neville went to join Tracey and Tori respectively at the Slytherin table. Harry knew it was no longer necessary to keep his relationship with Tracey a secret, since those who attended the ball finally saw her walking with Harry when the champions and their dates arrived in the Great Hall. Adrian and Daphne found seats closeby Harry, Tracey, Neville and Tori. Blaise joined Luna at the Ravenclaw table, with Terence and Susan joining them too. Unusually, Professor Tonks arrived through the double doors… with Sirius in tow, much to Harry's surprise when he saw it with his own eyes.

"Sirius!" said Harry ecstatically, as he got up to hug his godfather.

"Hey, pup!" Sirius responded, hugging his godson.

"I thought it would've taken alot longer than anticipated." said Harry.

"I was lucky to get my trial before Christmas and get cleared," said Sirius. "Andi and I waited until now for you to find out because we felt it would've been a nice Christmas present for you."

"Harry, my boy!" Dumbledore spoke up as he approached him and Sirius. "What's all this? I was on the verge of getting Sirius a trial, it just needed more time for preparation."

"Spare me your excuses and misdirections, ole coot!" Sirius snapped at the headmaster (who was taken aback by Sirius' reaction). "I've been waiting for that trial for the last thirteen years and you continued to ignore me willingly while vouching for Snivellus despite his association with the death eaters. Andi here has been a much better teacher in the short time she's been here than Snivellus was in the thirteen years he taught here."

"Now, now, Sirius," Albus tried to 'reason with' the head of House Black. "Let's not be irrational. This was all necessary for the Greater Good."

"Nice try, Albus," snapped Andi. "But you keep trying to run Harry's life and force him to do things on your own terms. You even go to utterly immoral lengths to accomplish this Greater Good thing of yours. But you never bothered to come to Sirius' defence, instead having him face unjust time in Azkaban, you even knew Sirius would never do anything as vile as murdering people, and yet you didn't care. You shrugged it off like it was no big deal. I didn't have to accept the potions teacher position, but I chose to. You should be happy that you didn't get your comeuppance."

"There's more proof for you that proves how incompetent you really are, Albus!" Sirius informed the headmaster.

At that moment, Amelia and several aurors barged into the Great Hall and dragged the headmaster behind them to force him to follow them over to the Defence Against The Dark Arts classroom. Dumbledore had no idea what all was going on, his plans were beginning to crumble beneath his feet. First, Sirius had his trial set up and done without his knowledge, Harry continued to resist his 'destiny' for the Greater Good, and now he was being dragged to the defence classroom by Amelia (who looked ready to blow her top). Sirius and Andi were bringing up the rear to ensure the headmaster didn't try any more tricks or keep up with his misdirection games. After a few minutes, they reached the defence classroom and spotted 'Professor Moody' all tied up and gagged with a terrified look on his face.

"Amelia, this isn't the _real_ Alastor we have tied up here," Sirius informed the head of the DMLE. "I was in my animagus form earlier taking myself for a walk before breakfast, with Andi tagging along. On our way back to Andi's classroom, I could smell a familiar scent that I remembered during my stay in Azkaban. The scent belongs to Barty Crouch Jr."

Just as Sirius finished that, the Moody in front of them began writhing as he slowly transformed. Alastor's wooden prosthetic leg and magical eye fell out of place. As the fake Moody continued reverting back to his original, he was slowly starting to show the facial features of Barty Crouch Jr. Then a set of ten keys fell out of Barty Jr's robes when he tried struggling to free himself without success. Amelia summoned the keys to herself, then she instructed the aurors to keep watch of Barty Jr while she, Andi and Sirius went up into the teacher's office to look for Alastor, making sure Albus had to follow them. Then some semi-muffled shouting came from a chest that was rocking, indicating that someone wanted out.

"Each key has a number on it," said Amelia as she examined the keys. "We'll need to start with the first one and do it numerically."

Every key Amelia tried came with different contents inside the chest. When the seventh key was tried, the contents happened to be the _real_ Moody and he barely had any hair, and was very thin because of malnutrition.

"Barty must've been brewing up Polyjuice Potion," Andi deduced. "Why else would Alastor be missing quite alot of hair."

"Here's the hip flask Alastor was known for using, Amelia." a dark-skin auror informed his boss, handing the flask to her.

"Thank you, Kingsley." said Amelia gratefully, politely taking it from him. Then she sniffed the hip flask and widened her eyes in realization, "Yep, it's Polyjuice Potion alright."

"I knew it," stated Andi. "Even during the short time I've been here teaching potions, some of the ingredients for the potion in the personal stores have been going missing."

"Well, it looks like Barty Jr will be getting a chat from me when we head back to the ministry," said Amelia. "But I have some choice words for Albus first."

Dumbledore began sweating profusely when Amelia glared at him. The auror named Kingsley ordered Barty Jr to be placed in magic suppression handcuffs so he could be taken into ministry custody. After Andi and Sirius left the office to help escort Alastor over to the hospital wing, Amelia slammed the door with such force Albus jumped in fright.

"Do you care to explain why another bloody death eater was inside the wards surrounding the castle, Albus?" asked Amelia coldly.

"I-It seems like the w-wards didn't alert me to such!" Albus replied in a nervous voice.

"Damn right they didn't!" growled Amelia. "That's because you refuse to do any checking and make sure the wards are at the best strength possible."

"But then Severus wouldn't have been able to…" Albus tried 'reasoning' with the head of the DMLE.

"HE SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A DAMN TEACHER IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Amelia shouted in Albus' face. "MY NIECE HAD BEEN WRITING TO ME SEVERAL TIMES A YEAR SINCE SHE STARTED, EXPLAINING SEVERUS' INEFFECTIVE TEACHING HABITS AND HIS TREATMENT TOWARDS NON-SLYTHERIN STUDENTS! SO DON'T TELL ME ABOUT THAT GREASY GIT HAVING CHANGED SIDES, AND KEEP YOUR GREATER GOOD BULLSHIT TO YOURSELF!"

"Voldemort isn't gone, and everybody needs my help." Albus argued.

"Then help out in a way that'll help us defeat Voldemort!" snapped Amelia. "This whole 'second chances' malarkey is utter bullshit, Albus, because the death eaters will take advantage of that. You also try to promote your pacifist views on us, which has done far more harm and hardly any good. Just last night, one of your students smuggled rum into the castle somehow, drank both bottles and it eventually cost her her own life. Now this is your final warning Albus, any more suspicious behaviour and/or any more complaints and I'll have you hauled to the ministry, kapeesh?!"

All Dumbledore could do was nod his head with his eyes still widened in fear. Then Amelia turned around to open the door and leave. Albus headed back to his office, thinking he could write a letter to Remus and have him talk to Harry and Sirius about how 'important' the Greater Good was. Back in the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall was keeping watch over the students as breakfast progressed. Sirius and Andi returned to the staff table to help Professor McGonagall in keeping everything in order. Sirius flashed the deputy headmistress a dirty look as a way of letting her know he wasn't pleased with the way she treated Harry. Professor McGonagall felt her limbs stiffen in guilt, but wisely remained silent. Over at the Slytherin table, Harry and Neville were chatting with their friends.

"How soon until you and Harry kiss, Trace?" said Daphne while smirking. "You did tell me about your first one happening last night."

"I don't know, Daph," Tracey replied, blushing heavily. "Harry hates being in the spotlight, so kissing him in front of everyone won't be able to happen."

"But you and Harry officially dating will need to be known sooner or later," Tori reasoned with Tracey. "Since that second kiss had to indicate it."

"Plus, that Skeeter woman must've taken the hint and quit her job," Adrian pointed out. "Since there hasn't been any more slandering articles about Harry."

"Yeah," said Harry with realization. "Though, Skeeter quitting her job seems very unlikely. Maybe she was fired instead after the Daily Prophet got complaints about her being allowed to print those utter lies."

"If you wait too long, Harry," said Neville. "Someone else may try to get Tracey. If you really have feelings for her, you have to let her know."

"How about once breakfast ends?" asked Harry, speaking particularly to Tracey.

"Sounds good, Harry," said Tracey, trying to keep her excitement concealed. "It'll give us some time to prepare for it."

The rest of breakfast resumed uneventfully. Once it was over and the other students started getting up, Harry planted a kiss on Tracey's lip, much to her excitement. Most of the student body turned their attention to the ordeal with shocked looks on their faces while the teachers and staff looked indifferent. Ginny began gritting her teeth in anger and jealousy (with her arms and legs trembling) before stomping toward Tracey. Fred and George grabbed their immature sister by her arms and began dragging her out of the Great Hall while ignoring her whining, with Lee and Demelza keeping a close watch on Ginny to make sure she couldn't escape. Once they were inside an abandoned classroom, Fred, George, Lee and Demelza took turns locking the door and casting privacy wards before turning their attention back to Ginny with glares.

"What the _hell_ are you doing to me?!" Ginny whined in a shrill-like voice.

"Keeping you away from Harry until you settle down!" her twin brothers snapped at her.

"That snake kissed my Harry," Ginny continued whining, stamping a foot on the floor. "She knows he's mine! She's dead meat and I'll make _damn_ sure of it."

"Well, well, Ginevra," said Demelza when she spotted three envelopes falling out of the inside pockets of her jacket. "What do we have here?"

She picked up the envelopes and examined them before handing them to Fred and George. The twins looked at the envelopes before facing their sister again, with angry looks on their faces.

"So this is why our letters kept disappearing!" Fred and George chastised Ginny. "We placed these on our nightstand, intending for them to be our reminder to send them to mum. For a while we thought we misplaced them, now we know you've been snatching them and sneaking them away."

"Nothing concerns mum!" Ginny whined once more.

"It does," Fred and George retorted. "These letters have even been informing her of your inexcusable behaviour."

They held their hands out as if to tell Ginny to hand over the rest. She smiled 'innocently' as she handed over only one. Seeing through the ruse, Fred and George cast the summoning charm and a countless number of more envelopes flew out of the same jacket pocket Ginny had been hiding them in.

"Looks like you won't be getting out of this one, Ginevra," Lee informed her with a mischievous grin on his face. "I wonder what your mummy will have to say."

He and Demelza got the envelopes organized before handing them to Fred and George. The twins politely took them and left Lee and Demelza to keep watch over Ginny so they could get the letters delivered to their mother. Along the way to the owlery, Fred and George crossed paths with Harry and Tracey.

"We found some of these falling out of Ickle Ginnykins' jacket pocket," Fred and George informed Harry, one or the other showing them to him. "They're letters for mum informing her of what our sister has been doing and how obnoxious she's being."

"I can have one of my house elves apparate me to your house," Harry told Fred and George. "Unless you wish to do it yourselves."

"How about if you come with, Harry," Fred and George suggested. "Just in case mum needs to hear it from you, too."

"I'll hang out with Daph while I wait for you to get back," Tracey told Harry. "Since this doesn't seem like it's my business."

Harry kissed Tracey again before following Fred and George over to a different abandoned classroom. Once there, Harry called for Dobby and Oreo to apparate himself and the twins respectively over to the Burrow. Then they walked up to the front door and knocked.

"Harry, Fred, George, what're you doing here?!" asked Molly in surprise.

"These letters for you from us," the twins told their mother, handing the envelopes to her. "Ginny had been secretly taking them from us. Some of them fell out of her pocket. They're about her behaviour and how she still thinks Harry is her's. We had to keep rewriting them because we thought we kept misplacing them."

"Ginny has earned herself a one month suspension from school, I thought I made it clear to her to stop living in her fantasy!" said Molly in anger. Then she turned her attention to Harry and sheepishly told him, "I apologize, Harry dear!"

"It's not your fault, Mrs. Weasley," assured Harry. "Ginny just doesn't want to face reality."

"This one month suspension should be a wake-up call for her," Molly told Harry. "If she puts another out of line, then she'll be in for a more suitable punishment for her."

After bidding Molly goodbye, Harry, Fred and George returned to where Dobby and Oreo were waiting. The house elves apparated the three back to the abandoned classroom while Molly apparated to just outside the castle wards. Then the Weasley matriarch started marching up to the entrance, crossing paths with her twin sons and Harry (who left to meet up with Tracey). Fred and George showed the way to the classroom where Lee and Demelza were still in keeping watch over Ginny. The immature Weasley girl widened her eyes in fear to see her mother's nasty glare.

"Let's go, young lady!" Molly insisted to her daughter, grabbing her by the back of her shirt and began escorting her to Dumbledore's office. "I can't believe you kept your brothers' letters from me. We'll be having a chat with the headmaster and the deputy head to tell them you'll be suspended for a month."

Ginny had to deal with some snickers coming from other students who witnessed her mother dragging her (including Fleur, who was looking elated to see it for herself). When the Weasley females reached the staircase leading up to the door to Dumbledore's office, the door flew open. Luckily Professor McGonagall was there too, so Molly made clear to tell them (in an angry voice) that Ginny would be suspended for the next month because of her actions. After the female Weasleys and McGonagall left, Dumbledore went back to his next plan to get Harry back into his so-called destiny for the Greater Good.

At lunchtime, Dumbledore was unusually one of the first teachers (and people in general) to reach the Great Hall. He spotted Harry accompanying Tracey over to the Slytherin table, followed by Neville and Tori. It was barely five minutes after everybody sat down to eat when the double doors opened. In walked an angry Remus Lupin, as he marched up to Albus at the staff table. Minerva also saw the look on Remus' face and felt more guilt (since he glared at her, too).

"Remus, to what do I…?" Albus tried asking.

"I don't wanna hear about it, Albus!" snapped Remus, pointing a finger in the headmaster's face. "I can't believe you lied to me about Harry's whereabouts all this time. I read that Daily Prophet article about his interview regarding his life outside and before Hogwarts. I spent countless days trying to find him, but you refused to tell me. You knew darn well Lily and James wanted Harry to stay away from the Dursleys, but you directly defied that. You even refused to speak up for Sirius when he was chucked into Azkaban without a bloody trial, instead you spoke up for Severus despite him having been a death eater. You and Minerva should be ashamed of yourselves for allowing Harry to suffer, Albus. You're a filthy hypocrite and a _liar_, so don't expect me to keep spying on the werewolves for you anymore, kapeesh?!"

"Come now, Remus," Albus tried sucking up to him. "I thought I'd make it up to you and Sirius by offering you two the job as Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher. Where you'd both get to w-work alongside each other."

"I won't be keeping watch over Harry for you," Remus warned Albus. "And don't expect Sirius to do the same. I'll still accept the position, though."

"I'll accept the position, too," Sirius told Albus. "We need to catch up on all the real lessons, since the other three you had were incompetent."

Albus stared at the two with a shocked expression, which intensified when he saw Andi glaring at him for his actions. Still, Albus thought of another plan in a last ditch attempt to get the Greater Good back on track, one that would and could happen during the second task. He knew he needed to be more careful, since having Amelia indirectly breathing down his neck would make it even more difficult. Albus resumed eating lunch just to avoid exhibiting suspicious behaviour and jeopardize his plans.

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: I'd like to give a shoutout to the anonymous reviewer 'Velkan' for suggesting that Remus rip Dumbledore a new one.**

**Also a shoutout to the user 'Millie072' for suggesting the plot twist of Ginny taking Fred and George's letters away from them secretly to avoid retaliation from their mother.**


	22. Chapter 22

_Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 22: The End For Lucius and Severus**

The next week and a half passed by uneventfully. It was New Year's Day 1995, and Harry and his friends were finishing up on eating breakfast. Then they started following Sirius, Remus, and Andi over to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade to floo over to the Ministry of Magic for Severus' and Lucius' trials. Both were going to be held in courtroom four. Harry and his friends took seats in the visitors section while Sirius took a seat in the Wizengamot box to represent House Black. Andi also took a seat in the Wizengamot box to represent House Potter for Harry until he was a legal adult or emancipated at least. It was a few days earlier when Sirius suggested that to Harry. Snape was the first one to be brought in and he was wearing gray prison robes rather than his usual black robes. It also looked like his long greasy hair had been washed since he was brought into custody, which seemed to be the reason why he had an even more bitter expression on his face.

"Court is now in session!" Minister Cornelius Fudge announced, banging a gavel three times to signal the start of trial. "We will now go over charges against Severus Snape."

"This is all outrageous!" Amelia exclaimed as she read over the documents listing all of the charges against the former potions teacher.

The rest of the Wizengamot also went over charges against Snape. They consisted of hundreds of counts of oppression, multiple counts of assault on Lord Potter and the Longbottom scion, multiple counts of corruption, indirect homicide of Lily and James Potter, tampering with eye witnesses, and association with the death eaters. Snape received many glares as his charges were leaking out. Nevertheless, he glared at Harry and Neville sitting by their respective girlfriends.

"We find Severus guilty of all charges!" Amelia announced as soon as she and the Wizengamot came to a final decision.

"Severus," Cornelius informed the former potions teacher. "You are hereby sentenced to one-hundred-and-fifty years in Azkaban."

"Excuse me, but might I suggest something?" asked Harry in a polite voice, as he raised his hand. He came up with a more suitable punishment for Snape.

"Yes Lord Potter, what did you have in mind?" asked Amelia, as everyone turned their attention to Harry.

"I was thinking that for a more suitable punishment for Snape," Harry explained. "Maybe he can be kept in a ministry cell where he can brew potion treatments for various ailments and research cures for Lycanthropy and long-term exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. I don't see a reason why his talent has to be wasted if he goes to Azkaban."

Harry's friends looked at him in surprise, impressed with his suggestion. Even most of the ministry workers began discussing the possibility of changing Severus' punishment. Snape glared at Harry again for his 'stunt' and wanted to strangle him, but he couldn't because of being secured to the defendant's chair with magic suppression shackles.

"For those in favour of changing Severus' sentence, send up green light with your wands," Amelia instructed her co-workers. "Those in favour of leaving it the way it is, send up red light."

Only five ministry officials (including a short toad-like woman wearing a pink cardigan outfit) pointed their wands up to send up red light. The rest sent up green light, which relieved Harry and his friends. Remus, Sirius and Andi were especially ecstatic to see that Harry suggested Snape's more suitable punishment.

"Well, Severus," Cornelius informed him. "It has been decided that, at Lord Potter's suggestion, you'll be sentenced to one-hundred-and-fifty years in a ministry cell brewing up potions for various ailments, a cure for Lycanthropy, and a cure for long-term Cruciatus exposure. You'll also be under supervision of the unspeakables during your working hours."

Cornelius banged the gavel to signal the start of Snape's sentence, with some of the aurors walking over to unlock the shackles keeping the former potions teacher secured to the defendant's chair. As he was placed in magic suppression handcuffs to be taken back to the ministry cell he had been in while awaiting his trial, Severus glared at Harry once more in pure hatred. He not only had to brew potion treatments, but work on developing cures Remus and Neville's parents of their respective conditions. Snape knew he owed House Potter two life debts, since Harry saved him from exposure to the dementors guarding Azkaban. It wasn't right that the Potter 'brat' did what he did because no one had the right to tell him what to do in regards to his talents. As much as he knew it, Snape would never acknowledge that it was his own actions that landed him in his predicament.

After Severus was taken away, other aurors brought in Lucius and secured him to the defendant's chair. Narcissa glared at her soon-to-be former husband (who cowered some in fear). Tori even shot a glare in Lucius' direction for drawing up the marriage contract to have her marry Draco. Charges against Lucius included multiple counts of forgery (as Narcissa found out that all those documents where Draco and Tori getting married in future turned out to be falsified), association with the death eaters, attempted murder of Lord Potter, coercion, blackmail, multiple counts of bribery, multiple counts of corruption, and perjury (since he lied about committing crimes under the influence of the Imperius Curse while under oath).

"Cornelius," the woman wearing pink cardigan spoke up in a falsely sweet voice. "How can Lucius be guilty of the alleged crimes? The Potter brat was just making up lies just to be an attention seeker. Lucius would never try to kill anyone."

"Lucius," Cornelius informed the Malfoy patriarch (while ignoring the woman in cardigan). "You are hereby sentenced to spend the rest of your natural life in Azkaban."

"Wait, how about if I pay to be let off the hook?" asked Lucius.

"Never!" said Cornelius firmly.

"You're not getting out of this anymore, Lucius," said Amelia sternly. "You must learn that actions have consequences."

Cornelius banged his gavel to signal the start of Lucius' sentence. The Malfoy patriarch glared at Amelia because she was the one who had him arrested. As soon as he was let out of his shackles, Lucius sucker-punched the aurors before whipping a stolen wand out and pointing it at Amelia (who sensed the threat immediately and whipped her wand out).

"Avada…!" Lucius started bellowing out, ignoring Susan (who gasped in horror to see Lucius attempting to murder her aunt before her very eyes) sitting next to Terence in the visitors section.

Luckily for Susan, Lucius was hit with several tripping spells and placed in magic suppression handcuffs. The woman in the cardigan outfit was the only one supporting Lucius inwardly, but she kept a straight face to ensure nobody saw that she was supporting Lucius' attempt to kill Amelia.

"On second thought, Lucius," Cornelius informed the Malfoy patriarch. "Your punishment is hereby changed to the dementor's kiss."

Cornelius banged his gavel once more to signal the change in Lucius' sentence. Susan felt tears welling up in her eyes due to witnessing her aunt almost getting murdered. She was so distraught that the other girls and Terence tried to provide her with comfort (which had mixed results). Harry was glaring at the woman in cardigan due to her labelling him as an attention seeker and a brat.

"That woman is up to something!" Harry told Neville in a suspicious tone of voice. "She's the only one who looked all cool and calm when ole Luci tried to kill Amelia."

"That's Dolores Umbridge," Neville told Harry, pointing to the woman wearing pink cardigan. "Gran hates her as much as Amelia does. Umbridge takes great pleasure in abusing her power. She even proposed that bill prohibiting those infected with Lycanthropy to have jobs."

"How did Lucius get this wand?!" asked Amelia in confusion, as one of the aurors handed her the stolen wand.

"My only guess is that someone smuggled it to him," a dark-skin auror theorized. "It's the only way Lucius could have one on him."

"Of course someone smuggled Lucius a stolen wand!" Dolores blurted out in the same sickly-sweet voice, as a venomous grin formed on her face. "And the suspect to do that is the Potter brat, since he falsely accused Lucius of attempted murder just to get more attention."

"Excuse me?!" Harry replied in a no-nonsense voice.

"Be reasonable, Dolores," said Amelia. "Harry would never do something like that."

"Sure he would," Dolores responded without a care in the world, her voice still sickly-sweet. "He's been enjoying his time in the spotlight. Lucius told me how many times Potter would pick fights with his son. Draco was always such a good boy while Potter remains bad and will never learn."

"What makes you think I'd be an attention seeker?" Harry retorted.

"That bogus interview of yours in the Daily Prophet," Dolores claimed. "Only attention seekers will try to ruin others' reputation. It isn't nice to badmouth people."

"Which is what you did, Miss Umbridge," Harry reminded her. "By giving me false accusations and making assumptions."

Dolores attempted to continue what she was doing, but then Cornelius informed her that Harry and his friends needed to return to Hogwarts. Dolores remained determined to antagonize Harry one way or the other, but kept a straight face so no one will find out what she was really up to. Susan managed to calm down after her aunt assured her that she was alright.

Back at Hogwarts, Harry and Tracey went for a walk in the woods to pass the time before lunch. Upon hearing some giggling, Harry and Tracey followed the sound to see where it was coming from (making sure to tiptoe just in case). They came across some clearing in the trees and discovered a group of students consisting of Theo Nott, Romilda Vane, Zacharias Smith and a Ravenclaw student who had curly reddish-blonde hair.

"That Ravenclaw girl was part of Cho's group of friends," Harry whispered to Tracey. "But I don't see Cho there at all, nor the rest of her friends. Luna told me that they were her main tormentors, but something doesn't seem right."

"Maybe Luna misunderstood something." Tracey whispered back. "Is it possible Cho and her other friends have been framed somehow?"

"Perhaps." Harry guessed.

"Maybe we should listen to what Theo, Zacharias, and the other two are planning," said Tracey. "They have mischievous smiles on their faces."

The two sneaked a little closer, but not close enough to be noticed. Harry and Tracey stayed hidden behind some trees, with Tracey casting a spell that allowed her and Harry to listen to the mischievous students' plan easier.

"So Marietta, what's the next part of the plan?" Romilda asked the Ravenclaw girl.

"Well, once she gets back here, she'll be able to help us brew up some more Amortentia, and some more powerful manipulation potions," Marietta instructed. "Draco has already been expelled and arrested, so he's no longer able to help us out."

"Yeah, and Potter can't keep ignoring Ginny," Zacharias explained. "Her happily ever after depends on him finally seeing her as a romantic partner. That's why the Amortentia given to Potter has to be keyed to Ginny."

"And all other girls must stay away from Potter for that very reason," said Theo. "Tracey needs to break up with him for his own good. I'll be giving her a nice talk after dinner this evening."

"In your dreams, you prick!" Tracey whispered in Theo's direction. "If you try, you'll be seeing stars dancing through your vision."

Harry and Tracey began tiptoeing away before they could be noticed. Once they were a far enough distance from the bad students, Harry and Tracey started picking up the pace as they made a beeline for the castle. Once they made it back, Harry and Tracey headed for Harry's private quarters so the two could have some alone time and distract themselves from what they heard coming from the bad students.

Later that evening after dinner was finished, Tracey began heading back to the dungeons of Slytherin (with Daphne, Tori, Blaise, Adrian and Terence right beside her). As soon as they entered the common room, Theo approached Tracey to convince her to break up with Harry (as part of the plan).

"You must break up with Potter, Davis," Theo insisted. "Everyone knows he's destined to be with Ginny Weasley."

"Oh, so now the weaselette has you believing that shit?!" Tori growled at Theo. "She's not even here because we all heard her parents suspended her, unless she's been making that kind of plan with you sometime before that happened."

"I'm not breaking up with Harry just because you're trying to order me to do so, Nott!" said Tracey defiantly.

"Unless you want your life to turn to shit, I suggest you do exactly what I say!" Theo threatened, cracking his knuckles to 'prove his point' to her.

Tracey retaliated by smacking Theo, hard across the face. Most of their housemates started snickering at the ordeal, much to Theo's embarrassment. Daphne kicked Theo in the stomach while Tori gave him a swift kick in the butt, literally. Adrian, Terence and Blaise cast a charm that gave Theo the feeling of getting a wedgie with triple the effect, which made him walk all weird and resulted in him enduring more snickers. Once she returned to her room, Tracey went to shower before settling in for the evening. Back in his private quarters, Harry finished explaining to Neville what he and Tracey heard sometime before lunch.

"Maybe we should add some extra security wards," Neville suggested. "Just in case any of those students find their way here."

"You're right, Neville," Harry responded in agreement. "I'd hate to think that any one of those bad fellow students would be willing to tell Ginevra about this."

"She could use that against me, just to keep me away from you," said Neville. "Ginevra refuses to acknowledge that her crazy temper and tendency to smack people the same way she did to me is the reason I keep my distance from her."

"Let's get better security wards added to our quarters." said Harry with determination.

He and Neville went around the quarters to take care of adding the security wards. As soon as they were finished, Harry and Neville turned in for the evening. Harry also realized that with the second task only about eight weeks away, he needed to get the clue within the golden egg deciphered if he wanted to find out what the task involved.

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: I'd like to give a shoutout to the anonymous user 'V' for suggesting that Harry recommend to the Wizengamot that they have Snape's talent in potions and spells not be wasted in Azkaban.**

**Also a shoutout to the anonymous user 'Cacofonix' for suggesting that Lucius try bribing his way out of trouble, and then attempting to kill Amelia before being sentenced to the dementors' kiss.**


	23. Chapter 23

_Disclaimer: All I own is this fanfic, J.K. Rowling owns the rest of the Harry Potter universe, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 23: Clues From Luna**

Harry was strolling through a meadow out in the middle of an unidentified forest when he heard someone calling out to him. As he followed the voice of the unidentified person calling for him, Harry widened his eyes in surprise to see that it was Ginny. She had on a red cap-sleeved t-shirt with a v-neck and black leather tight short shorts (which were showing off her nice-looking legs). Harry was rendered speechless at the unexpected sight before him, especially when Ginny began walking towards him and swiveling her hips in an erotic manner.

"Hello, my Harry!" Ginny spoke in a sweet-talk voice. "I'm so happy that you finally saw how much we're meant for each other."

Harry tried to speak, but found that his voice wasn't there. He kept trying to mouth the words he wanted to say, but Ginny ignored that. Once she was ten feet from him, Ginny turned around and bent over some to show Harry her nice-looking arse, then she began rubbing it with a hand in a circular motion before smacking it. Harry could tell Ginny was trying to tempt him into touching her arse and giving both cheeks a firm squeeze. Harry shook his head as if to say no, but Ginny ignored it. Then she turned around and lifted her shirt up to reveal a nice, flat tummy and a nice-looking belly button. Harry tried closing his eyes shut tightly, only for the eyelids to open back up unwillingly. Then Ginny pulled her shirt off all the way to reveal a gold sparkly bra and tossed her shirt away.

"I have a nice looking body, don't I, Harry?" asked Ginny rhetorically, giving him a wink.

Harry tried turning around to run away, but Ginny easily caught up with him despite trying to pick up the pace. Then she proceeded to unbutton and unzip her shorts before slowly pulling them down to her ankles, revealing a pair of gold sparkly panties. As she was pulling her shorts all the way off, Harry immediately tried making another run for it, but Ginny easily caught up with him again. This time, she clapped her hands to make chains and shackles appear. Ginny secured them to Harry to ensure he couldn't try escaping again.

"Why don't you lay down, Harry," Ginny coaxed, pushing him to the ground and forcing him to lay on his side. "You're too exhausted."

Once she was within Harry's point of view again, Ginny got down and laid down next to him. She even made sure he would continue eyeing her in the gold sparkly bra and panties with a smug grin and winking at him occasionally. Harry felt his insides reacting to Ginny in her bra and panties, but there was no escape because the chains on his shackles were far too thick. Harry also began breathing fast as his heart beat increased because Ginny continued making him look at her in her undergarments, until…

"GAAHHH!" Harry exclaimed.

He was suddenly woken up and realized that it was only a dream. Harry felt his heart still beating at the speed in the dream, he was also sweating profusely. Harry checked the time on the watch on his nightstand and saw that it was five minutes until 5:00 AM. Not wanting another dream involving Ginny, Harry tried staying awake to the best of his abilities.

"I'll never go out with Ginevra, nor will I ever see her as a romantic partner," Harry reminded himself. "She's too delusional to ever get over that fangirl behaviour."

Harry continued lying there staring up at the ceiling until it was time to get up and report to the Great Hall for breakfast. It was already the first day of lessons after the Christmas Holidays, as well as the first day of teaching for Sirius (and Remus' first day back). As soon as he got up to get his uniform ready, he went into the bathroom to take a shower. Once he was finished, Harry and Neville headed for the Great Hall (meeting up with Tracey and Tori along the way). Since it was the first day of classes after the holidays, everyone was required to sit at their respective house tables for breakfast. The heads of houses also went around handing out course schedules for the second term to their students.

"Harry mate," Fred and George spoke to him in their twin talk, as they and Lee took seats next to him and Neville. "What's got you all tense?"

"Last night, I had an unusual dream," Harry explained to the twins. "One I never wanted. It involved your sister trying to seduce me by stripping down to her undergarments and forcing me to keep looking at her. I wouldn't think of trying to hit on her because you and your parents are like family to me. I've even been looking at Bill and Charlie the same way."

"Something seems suspicious there," the twins responded in their twin talk. "The problem is, what may have caused that to happen."

"It won't be good, I can tell." said Neville matter-of-factly.

All too soon, breakfast was over and everyone returned to their respective common rooms to get their stuff and go to lessons. Harry, Neville and their fellow fourth year Gryffindors had Defence Against The Dark Arts with the Slytherins. Since Tori was a fourth year, Neville sat by Daphne while Harry sat by Tracey. Remus and Sirius walked out of his office and descended down the stairs before stopping by the chalkboard in front of the classroom and turning to address the students.

"Hello, class," Remus greeted. "It's nice to see you all again! Before we begin today's lesson, I will be informing you that since the last several years resulted in incompetent teachers being hired for this position, Sirius will be teaching this position too, in order to make up for how far behind you all are."

"Hello to you all," Sirius greeted the students. "Now today's lesson will be about learning how to deflect hexes like the leg-locker curse or the ear-twitching curse. Remus and I will be going around partnering you all up to promote inter-house cooperation. Once that is done, we'll teach you the incantation before you cast some hexes and see if your opponent can block them."

Remus and Sirius went around the classroom dividing the students into pairs, where every Gryffindor student was paired with a Slytherin. Harry was paired with Vincent Crabbe, who was one of Draco's goons, while Neville was paired with Gregory Goyle. Crabbe was the more dominant one while Goyle appeared to be cool-headed, but both were still painfully thick. Ron was paired with Theo Nott while Hermione was paired with Millicent Bulstrode, much to their annoyances.

'I remember at the Dueling Club a couple years ago when Bulstrode had me pinned against the wall,' thought Hermione as she revisited the memory. 'This time, I'll make sure that she can't try that same stunt!'

Daphne was paired with Parvati Patil (an indian girl who's twin sister, Padma was in Ravenclaw), while Tracey was paired with Lavender Brown (a brown-haired girl who was known for being the gossip queen). Ron felt his limbs trembling with rage when Theo began making comments about Ginny.

"That sister of yours is _hot_, Weasley!" Theo ignorantly remarked, voice filled with lust. "She has the most wonderful pair of boobs, and a great-looking arse that makes anyone who checks her out wanna squeeze them. She even has nice-looking legs and…"

"Why, you…!!" Ron growled.

He angrily stomped up to Theo and punched him in the stomach. That caused the two to have a brawl, which also momentarily halted the lesson since Sirius and Remus had to walk over and break it up.

"That's twenty-five points from Gryffindor and twenty-five from Slytherin for the brawl," Remus told Ron and Theo. "Sirius and I expect to see the both of you after class."

Sirius nodded his head in approval before telling Ron and Theo to get back to the lesson. Soon, it was time for the students to head for their next lesson. Ron and Theo had to stay behind, not wanting to risk a more severe punishment. The morning lessons passed by and now it was time for lunch. Harry, Neville and their respective girlfriends joined Blaise and Luna at the Ravenclaw table.

"Luna, may I ask you something?" Harry responded.

"Sure Harry, what would you like to ask me?" Luna replied.

"That day when you told me how Cho and her friends seem to enjoy tormenting you," said Harry. "Did anything seem off about them, any strange behaviour?"

"Hmmm!" Luna responded, deep in thought for a minute. Then she continued. "Now that you asked me, I do remember something strange. Whenever Cho and her friends taunted me or did stuff like ripping up my homework, their voices sounded monotonous and their movements were like that of a robot. The only one who appeared to genuinely enjoy watching me getting tormented was Marietta Edgecombe."

"Harry and I came across Marietta and three other students yesterday before lunch," Tracey informed Luna, causing Neville, Blaise and Tori to widen their eyes in shock. "The other students were Theo Nott, Zacharias Smith, and some girl with dark wavy hair, planning something that involved Amortentia and manipulation potions."

"Romilda was the girl with dark wavy hair, since she's also a Gryffindor," said Harry. "She even asked Marietta what their next plan was and they mentioned that the Amortentia was meant for Ginevra to give me without my knowledge. Maybe Cho and her friends were drugged with manipulation potions to cover up the crimes committed by the real wrongdoers."

"Marietta even revealed that Draco was involved in their schemes," said Tracey. "So that's one culprit arrested, since we already know Draco got busted for groping Fleur. Maybe he'll have to serve prison time here in Azkaban and prison time for the ministry in France consecutively."

"Too bad that pink toad will be doing whatever she can to delay the ferret's trial," Tori ranted. "She shouldn't even be working for the ministry. It's idiots like her and ole Luci being a disgrace that's causing many of our fellow wizarding citizens to complain about unfair laws passed and fair ones to be delayed indefinitely or abandoned altogether."

"Umbitch is bound to piss off the wrong person," said Blaise in an amused voice. "I'd certainly enjoy reading something like that in the Daily Prophet!"

Harry, Neville, Blaise, Tracey, Tori and Luna began giggling at the thought. The rest of lunch passed by uneventfully, then all the students left the Great Hall to head off to afternoon lessons. Concurrently, Amy Pucey was working in her office at the Daily Prophet office when a knock at the door was heard.

"Come in!" Amy called.

The door opened up and in walked trouble, causing Amy to widen her eyes in horror as soon as she looked up. Dolores Umbridge, in her cardigan outfit and a wicked grin on her face, walked in and stopped in front of the desk.

"What may I do for you, Dolores?" asked Amy, rather coldly.

"To inform you of this!" Umbridge replied in her sickly-sweet voice, showing an arrest warrant to Amy.

"What in the _hell_ for?!" snapped Amy.

"For you helping the Potter brat for ruining several reputations in that cock-and-bull interview you helped him with and having it posted in the Daily Prophet!" Dolores replied again, her voice still sickly sweet. "You know darn well that slandering someone is a crime, you shall be ashamed of yourself."

"Coming from the woman who is doing _just_ that." Amy retorted.

"That's not kind, Amy," said Dolores, maintaining her trademark voice. "You committed a rather serious crime, now you must pay the penalty."

"Where's Amelia?" asked Amy in a suspicious voice. "She and the aurors are the ones who take care of that. You arriving by yourself doesn't make any sense."

"Oh, Amelia is on vacation indefinitely," Dolores claimed, the same wicked grin. "And I didn't come here by myself, Amy."

Several of Voldemort's most loyal death eaters posing as aurors walked inside (the same ones who got out of a one-way ticket to Azkaban using the excuse of being under the influence of the Imperius Curse), subdued Amy and placed her in magic suppression handcuffs. Then she was taken out to be taken into ministry custody, but not before catching a glimpse of her fellow employees having been placed in full body-binds. The passing visitors of Diagon Alley were rather shocked to see Amy in handcuffs once they walked outside and over to a remote part of the shopping district to apparate themselves and Amy to the ministry to put her in a ministry holding cell.

A few hours later, afternoon lessons ended and the student body went to pass the time before dinner. Adrian and Daphne were sitting under a tree staring out across the Black Lake while holding hands and laughing. Then the two spotted the Greengrass family owl flying in their direction with a letter in it's beak. It dropped the letter on Daphne's lap before flying to the owlery to rest. The letter was from her father and she widened her eyes in a mixture of shock and anger as she read the letter, which said:

_Dear Daphne,_

_Something strange is going on at the ministry. For some unknown reason, Amelia hasn't returned to her office since lunchtime and now Adrian's mother is currently in a holding cell due to being accused of helping Harry with supposedly slandering several people in the Daily Prophet with his interview. You and Adrian better find Susan as soon as possible and inform her of what's going on. Now it also seems like Harry may be faced with facing the same fate as Amy. Dolores just goes around making false claims about him looking for more fame and glory, and continues to assume that he smuggled Lucius a stolen wand despite the fact that Harry hadn't visited the ministry again until Lucius' and Severus' trials. Do inform Tori of what's going on too. Hope to hear from you soon._

_Love,_

_Dad_

Daphne showed the letter to Adrian, who widened his eyes in astonishment to learn that his mother had just been unjustly arrested a few hours ago. He and Daphne got up to look for Susan to let her know that her aunt didn't return to work yet.

"How could my mum get arrested?!" Adrian ranted. "She didn't do anything to get herself in a ministry holding cell."

"It has to be someone as corrupt as ole Luci going around," Daphne deduced. "My hunch tells me that Dolores must be the one doing that. She did make false claims that Harry was looking for more recognition to keep up with his Boy-Who-Lived fame, so it would make sense that it's her."

"She could even grant Draco the ferret a full pardon without giving him a trial." said Adrian.

"The ferret will still have to face trial for the french ministry," Daphne reminded. "For that stunt he pulled on Fleur."

Adrian smirked as he remembered how most of the students were still discussing it. He quickly came to his senses as he remembered that he needed to help Daphne inform Susan and then Tori of the strange phenomenon going on at the ministry. Harry was also bound to get wind of it and he was going to be one furious wizard if anybody tried to arrest him unjustly.

_To be continued!_


	24. Chapter 24

_Disclaimer: As I've mentioned many times before, I just own this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 24: When Dolores Goes Crazy… Really, Really Crazy!**

It took Daphne and Adrian approximately fifteen minutes to find Susan and Terence in the courtyard. Daphne showed her letter from her father to Susan (who widened her eyes in a mixture of shock and worry).

"Why would auntie continue to be gone?!" Susan replied, her voice cracking with emotion. "She never ditches work!"

"No one knows," said Daphne, her voice beginning to drip with contempt. "I'm guessing that Umbitch woman is doing something so terrible."

"Especially with the fact that my mum got arrested unjustly," stated Adrian. "Amelia knows that she would never slander anybody or help someone do that. So I wholeheartedly believe that the pink toad had a hand in my mum's unjust arrest."

Daphne and Adrian left the courtyard to find Harry, Tracey, Neville and Tori to inform them of the dilemma at the ministry. They were found over by Neville and Tori's special place in the woods. Once Daphne and Adrian informed them about the dilemma at the ministry (with Daphne even showing the letter from her father), Harry, Tracey, Neville and Tori widened their eyes in a mixture of shock and anger.

"Where could Amelia be?" Harry responded with outrage in his voice. "She never would've had Amy unjustly arrested!"

"If only we knew," Neville replied. "My guess is that she may have been kidnapped and currently held captive somewhere. Even Gran knows that Amelia doesn't slack off in her job."

"Umbridge is likely attempting to usurp the position as minister and as head of the DMLE," Tracey deduced. "She'll do anything to have all the power in the world."

"I'll bet she'll even pardon the ferret," said Tori matter-of-factly. "And if she even reinstates his enrollment here, I'll show the ferret the hard way if he uses that opportunity to sexually harass me."

Neville gently kissed Tori's cheek in a successful attempt to get her to relax. She even hugged him as a way of saying thank you. Tracey felt an icy chill slither down her spine and put a hand over her mouth in horror at the likelihood that Dolores would try usurping the position as headmistress of Hogwarts. Daphne sensed her best friend's anxiety, especially when Tracey's eyes were widened again.

"It's bad enough that Dumbledore never properly punished the real wrongdoers," stated Harry. "But that toad of a woman will exacerbate the problem if she succeeds in usurping the position as headmistress. If my intuition is correct, she'll even enforce stricter so-called rules and punish anybody whoever she wants."

"Pretty much, Harry." Tracey confirmed.

True to Harry's intuition and Tracey's uneasiness, Dolores was going around the ministry and helping Voldemort's disloyal death eaters create a bunch of falsified documents. Some of the disloyal death eaters even seized control of the Daily Prophet with the intention to use it and publish articles to cause fear and anxiousness amongst the wizarding community. By dinnertime at Hogwarts, one unauthorized article was published and copies were being delivered to the students and staff. Harry and Neville joined their respective girlfriends at the Slytherin table and moments later was when the countless number of ministry owls began delivering the Daily Prophet to the students, teachers and other school staff. Harry widened his eyes in outrage to read the article, which said:

**Dolores Umbridge Elected As The New Minister!**

**Amelia Bones Missing, Cornelius Fudge Dead!**

**by Antonin Dolohov**

_Cornelius Fudge, previous minister for magic, was found dead in a remote dead end near Diagon Alley. While his face had a gray colour to it, it was determined that Cornelius' death was caused by foul play. With that, Dolores Umbridge was chosen to be the new minister. The first honourable thing she did was terminate the previous head of the Daily Prophet and replaced by Corban Yaxley. Augustus Rookwood was chosen to be Dolores' undersecretary._

_When asked about the new election, Dolores politely replied that it was due to popular requests that she become the new minister. When asked about Amelia Bones, Dolores assured that the former head of the DMLE was fine, but on vacation indefinitely. Instead of Kingsley Shacklebolt becoming the new head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the position was taken over by Thames Nott._

_Draco Malfoy was pardoned of the alleged crimes and is due to resume his finest education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lucius Malfoy, who was taken to Azkaban to receive the dementor's kiss next week, was also pardoned for his crimes and is due to return to his position as head governor of Hogwarts soon. More on this as it develops._

"The names who've been identified are those of Voldemort's death eaters," Neville told Harry. "Some of them are still in Azkaban, the ones who were truly loyal to him. The ones roaming free used the excuse of having been under the influence of the Imperius Curse just to get out of a one-way ticket to Azkaban."

"I knew that toad of a woman would pardon ferret boy!" Tori ranted, pounding a fist into the table before putting her head down into her arms.

"Yeah, ferret boy will even start parading around the castle as if he owns the place, once he and his father are back here," said Tracey, her voice dripping with contempt aimed at Draco. "

"Even though he still has to await trial for the french ministry," stated Daphne. "Umbitch will just forbid the french aurors from setting foot here in England, with a stupid claim that none of the male Malfoys are in trouble anymore. Pardoning ole Luci will make her one of the most hated witches in the country."

And Daphne was right because at that moment, Umbridge and several more corrupt ministry workers began receiving howlers from the angry citizens of the wizarding world. Because of the howlers piling up at an alarming rate, some of them exploded and caused chain reaction explosions. There was so much burned ash that it took at least fifteen employees to clean up the mess once the chaos ended. Nevertheless, Dolores had no intentions to give up. In the breakroom, she gave her minions an evil grin before addressing them.

"I think sometime after the second task of the Triwizard Tournament is finished," Umbridge informed them. "That'll be the right time to sack Albus and I can take over that position and keep the students under control, especially the Potter brat. Next week, Lucius will get his position as head Hogwarts governor back. Draco will even get to be reinstated as a student."

"Will the teacher positions get reassigned, too?" asked one particular unidentified death eater.

"Of course," Dolores assured the death eater. "Some of them need to be reassigned to more competent people. But we must wait before seizing control of Hogwarts, since the rest of our inferior citizens will think that everything will cool down."

Dolores began laughing a sweetly evil laugh, with her minions also chuckling wickedly. Once they were done, Dolores and two of her minions headed for the holding cells. The first part of their plan included giving Amy Pucey a kangaroo court in the interrogation room. Umbridge waited inside the room for her minions to bring Amy in. She was secured to a chair just as the toad of a woman began giving off her grin.

"Oh, such a shame, Amy!" Dolores spoke in her trademark voice, with mock sympathy. "You are hereby sentenced to life in Azkaban without the possibility of parole, for conspiracy to help the Potter brat in slandering many people in the Daily Prophet."

Amy gasped in horror as she was placed back in magic suppression handcuffs and taken away. Even when she was taken there, she gasped again to see more of the toad's minions helping to guard the notorious wizarding prison. She was placed in a minimum security prison cell on the third floor after being forced to change in her Azkaban prisoner robes.

"Be grateful that you're not in a maximum security cell near the top," growled the guard impersonator. "Where the dementors mainly linger."

After she was locked inside the cell, Amy began panicking at the thought of her son and husband finding out about her false imprisonment. Amy remembered hearing about Rubeus Hagrid having spent two months in Azkaban himself a couple years ago for crimes he didn't commit. She even remembered when Harry informed her of Sirius having spent many unjust years at the prison, when she interviewed him shortly after the first task. Now it seemed like she may be facing the strong possibility that she would be meeting that very fate before anybody realized what was now going on in the ministry. Due to Azkaban having a strict no visitors policy (mainly because of the dementors), Amy also realized that she likely would no longer get to see her family again.

/Scene break\

The next afternoon, once classes ended for the day, Harry returned to his makeshift quarters to wait for one of his house elves to bring Tracey to the living room. They had to finish their transfiguration assignment and decided to use the opportunity as a study date at the same time. After getting their assignment finished and double checked, Tracey put some classical music on. She thought Harry could use a temporary distraction from recent events, and figured dancing to music would help.

"Have you figured out that clue inside the golden egg?" Tracey asked her boyfriend.

"No," said Harry with disappointment in his voice. "It seems hopeless because of the ear-splitting wailing that emits from the inside anytime it's open. Do you have any ideas that could help me make any progress?"

"No I don't," said Tracey, equally disappointed. "Maybe that's part of Dumbledore's plan to make sure you rely on him and/or a select number of so-called helpers."

"Well, he'll need to realize that, one way or the other, I won't go to him," said Harry. "He's been too much of an incompetent doofus that he lost my trust permanently."

Harry and Tracey went back to dancing to classical music. Meanwhile out in the castle courtyard, Blaise and Luna were having their alone time. They were soon interrupted by a couple of people clearing their throats loudly. Blaise and Luna turned their attention to the people, who turned out to be their respective fellow housemates, Theo and Marietta.

"Well well, Blaise," Theo began mocking. "Continue to hang with…"

"You'd better not!" warned Blaise in a firm voice.

"Or what?!" sneered Marietta. "Loony doesn't deserve to have any friends, she's too delusional and loves going on and on about…"

"Don't call Luna by that bloody nickname!" growled Blaise, hardly believing his ears.

"She is a loony," Theo professed. "She is just as much of a loony as Potter is just as much of a schmuck."

"You only hate Harry because Draco does," Luna reminded Theo. "Haven't you ever thought about thinking for yourself instead of mindlessly following his orders?"

"Why should I, loony?" sneered Theo.

"I would've joined Draco's gang if I were in Slytherin," said Marietta. "I would've even got to spend generous amounts of time with Theo."

"Yes, and as Draco told me and the rest of his gang, looks and wealth are more important," Theo claimed. "But your intention of going for personality is only promoted by delusional idiots, such as Potter. He already corrupted Davis into dating him, just as Longbottom did to Astoria."

In an attempt to 'demonstrate the proper way,' Theo pulled Marietta close to him and began kissing her lips, much to Blaise and Luna's disgust. Theo and Marietta quickly began tongue touching as they continued their passionate kissing. Then Theo reached up from under Marietta's skirt and started squeezing her arse, making her moan in approval as they continued kissing. Marietta also put her hand down Theo's trousers to do the same (with Theo also moaning in approval). Blaise and Luna had to get up and leave as they shielded the ordeal with their hands, since they couldn't stand to watch it for even one second longer. Theo and Marietta were so lost in their world that they didn't notice that Professor Tonks was strolling by. Upon seeing what Theo and Marietta were doing (and Theo having his hand up Marietta's skirt), Andi walked up to confront them for their behaviour.

"Mr. Nott, Miss Edgecombe!!" scolded the head of Slytherin house.

"Oh h-h-hiiiii, p-p-professorrrrrr!!!" Theo responded nervously when he stopped kissing, his face turning red in embarrassment with realization that his head of house caught him in the act.

"Nothing h-h-happened, p-professor!" Marietta lied, nervousness clearly in her voice.

"And what were you two doing to be showing inappropriate displays of affection, in such an unruly way?" asked Professor Tonks in a stern voice.

"Loony Lovegood and Blaise needed some dating guidance," Marietta asserted. "So Theo and I were demonstrating for them."

"Since they claimed that personality matters more than looks and wealth." said Theo.

"That was the incorrect way to show it. That'll be fifty points from Slytherin for inappropriate displays of affection," Andi told Theo. "And for touching Miss Edgecombe in an improper manner and place. That'll also be a couple weeks worth of detention, young man. Meet me in my classroom after dinner."

"I was alright with him touching my arse." Marietta defended Theo.

"That won't matter, Miss Edgecombe. This is a school, not a place to exhibit inappropriate displays of affection, especially in such a disorderly manner," Andi scolded. "So that'll be fifty points from Ravenclaw for the same behaviour as Mr. Nott. That'll also be ten more points for bad language, and another ten points for referring to Miss Lovegood with a degrading name. You'd better follow me to Professor Flitwick's classroom so you can explain to him what you were just doing and I'll recommend that you serve a couple weeks of detention too, young lady."

Marietta reluctantly followed Andi over to her head of house's office while Theo strolled away with a disappointed expression on his face. What neither Theo nor Marietta realized was that Fleur was spying on them with a smirk on her face.

'That'll teach those idiots a lesson,' thought Fleur triumphantly. 'If they think Malfoy is a good example, they're making a tremendous mistake. They should know by now what the ferret did to me several weeks ago, but I guess they're choosing to ignore it and see ferret boy as a good influence."

Fleur left her hiding spot to return to the Beauxbatons carriage. She decided to take a nice, hot bath once she made it back. With the second task weeks away, it wouldn't do any good to be under too much stress.

_To be continued!_


	25. Chapter 25

_Disclaimer: As usual, I just own this fanfic. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 25: What Was Really Going On With Cedric And Cho**

Back at the ministry, Dolores and her minions were patrolling the ministry. It wasn't long after they returned to the break room before they started receiving more howlers (because the citizens weren't finished yet and were determined to get Umbridge into quitting her job). The employees who cared about their job could hear the howlers shouting and some of them exploding. Umbridge and her minions claimed that the howlers from yesterday were all a part of their imagination. This time, a real investigation started despite the corrupt employees 'warning' them to call it off or face the minister's wrath. Once the chaos ended, the ethical employees barged their way into the break room to confront Dolores and the other corrupt employees.

"Alright, Dolores," Kingsley began demanding. "Where is Amelia and why hasn't she returned? How could she just disappear without any indication as to why?"

"That's none of your business, Kingsley," Umbridge retorted in her sickly-sweet voice. "And you don't talk to the minister that way."

"You're not even a quarter of being a real minister!" Dora snapped.

"Would you like to be terminated?" Dolores snapped back.

"You're not even the rightful minister," said Dora defiantly. "So you don't have the power to terminate me."

"Any critical thinker knows that you just self-appointed yourself as minister," said one female employee, who was asian, in a matter-of-fact voice. "You just use Cornelius' death in an attempt to usurp…"

"That's enough, Chuya," growled Dolores at the asian woman. "I would never usurp anything."

"Lies!" the woman named Chuya growled back.

Dolores retaliated by ordering Chuya to be arrested, but the asian woman didn't go down without a fight. It took four of Dolores' minions to hold Chuya down so she could be placed in magic suppression handcuffs and taken into a ministry holding cell.

"Chuya's arrest should be a lesson to you all!" Umbridge snarled, particularly at the employees who cared about doing their job. "No one's above the law, no matter who they are."

"In that case, you should be under arrest." Dora retorted. "You tend to go around behaving like you're above the law."

"I think this lady needs to learn some manners and treat her superiors with respect," Dolores told her minions, pointing to Dora. "Arrest her, too. She's also terminated from her job. Furthermore, her employment opportunities anywhere else in the wizarding world will be permanently revoked and I'll see to it that it happens."

Some of Umbridge's henchmen surrounded Dora, only for Kingsley and the other moral-abiding ministry employees to take them down with stunning spells. In spite of that, more of the toad's goons came out of hiding and defeated the employees who cared about their jobs and had them arrested (including Kingsley), except for Dora. The few remaining conscious ethical employees left the room, knowing they were outsmarted and defeated. Augustus also advanced towards Dora to place her in magic suppression handcuffs, but she punched him in the stomach. Dolores tried to place the handcuffs on Dora herself, only for Dora to turn the tables on the toad.

"You're in _real_ trouble now, Nymphadora!" growled Dolores. "Your charges will also include high treason for putting handcuffs on the minister."

Dora kicked the toad in the groin in retaliation for Dolores calling her by her full name. One of the other minions grabbed Dora by a wrist and proceeded to smack her arse, but she grabbed his bits and gave them a firm squeeze, causing him to squeal out in pain.

"You don't _ever_ touch a lady there, especially without her consent, pervert!" Dora growled at the minion, through gritted teeth (making sure he saw the glare on her face).

Despite Dora's best efforts, more of the toad's goons came in to 'restore order' and subdued the Tonks' daughter. After unlocking the handcuffs on Dolores, another one of her goons placed them on Dora and pulled her up onto her feet.

"You can take this treasonous lady to a maximum security cell in Azkaban," Umbridge told her lackey. "To await a date with the dementors and get the kiss. I have some more important matters to take care of."

Dora widened her eyes in horror at Dolores unjustly sentencing her to the dementor's kiss, as she was led away to Azkaban. The other out-cold ethical employees were dragged away over to some kind of room, tossed them in and heavily locked it up. The henchman ignored the shouting protests of a woman (who was also trapped in the heavily-locked room). Once the other goons returned to the break room, Dolores had another scheme in mind.

"It's time to send dementors to all of those who've been sending the howlers," Dolores shouted in an angry and adamant voice. "They need to learn that sending howlers must be done when it's urgent and rightful."

"There's too much ash and so many of our fellow wizards and witches have been sending them," one of the goons tried reasoning with the toad. "It'll be nearly impossible to track them down."

"Oh yeah, why didn't I think of that one before, you shitbag?!" Dolores asked the lackey rhetorically, sarcasm clearly in her voice. Then she whipped her wand out, pointed at said henchman and hollered. "CRUCIO!"

The minion began screaming like crazy in utter pain. Dolores didn't have an ounce of care in the world, instead laughing as she watched the henchman screaming from unbearable pain, with the other minions watching the ordeal in fear. Dolores kept the Cruciatus Curse going until the henchman was no longer screaming. He was reduced to being in a vegetative state.

"Let that be a warning to you all," Dolores warned her other witnessing goons, in a dangerous voice. "If any of you try what he tried, you'll face the same fate!"

The others continued going around helping the toad out, now in utter fear of being tortured to insanity to the point where they were being more than careful not to cross her. The evil toad was now even more determined to make sure Harry was apprehended for his 'crimes.'

/Scene break\

The next five weeks or so passed by uneventfully. By the beginning of February, Ginny returned to Hogwarts once her suspension from school was over. With that, Neville made sure to keep well away from her, remembering her smacking him across the face (with Tori making sure Ginny wouldn't violate Neville's personal space). Amelia was still missing somehow and missing posters of her were printed out, but still no one knew where exactly she was. Dolores continued to pass Amelia's absence off as being on vacation. It was Valentine's Day and once breakfast was over, Harry and Neville headed off to Charms class (since they had that class with the Hufflepuffs). Today's lesson was going to be learning the charm to send up red sparks.

"This charm could be useful." Harry told Neville in amazement.

"It's used to signal that someone is in danger," stated Neville. "You shoot the red sparks up into the air to call for help."

"Definitely useful." said Harry with realization.

The rest of the lesson progressed. After morning lessons were finished, everybody reported to the Great Hall for lunch. This time Harry and Neville opted to sit at their house table nearest to the double doors. They were joined by Tracey and Tori as usual, then Terence and Susan joined them, as did Fleur.

"Harry, have you been having trouble with the golden egg?" asked Fleur.

"Pretty much," Harry admitted. "All I keep getting is the ear-splitting wail anytime it's opened."

"The next time you take a bath, you should bring the egg with you," Fleur advised. "I found out about it yesterday. But it would be best if I don't tell you anymore than I already have."

"You're right, Fleur," agreed Harry. "Thanks for the heads up."

"You're welcome, Harry." said Fleur.

Soon, lunch ended and everybody went to get their stuff to head off to afternoon lessons. After getting their school bags, Harry and Neville took shortcuts whenever possible, just in case if certain students like Ginny could and likely would use the opportunity to follow them and memorize their schedules to the point of waiting around every corner and allow the delusional Weasley girl an easier chance of kissing her hero on the lips.

Later that afternoon once classes ended for the day, Luna dropped her stuff off inside her school trunk charmed to fit as much in it, right under her bed in Ravenclaw Tower before going to meet up with Blaise. Along the way, Luna came across a distraught Fleur sitting on a bench in the courtyard, so she approached the part-veela.

"Are you alright, Fleur?" asked Luna.

"Yeah, just worried," Fleur told Luna. "The clue in the golden egg means that… I don't know if I can say it yet."

Before Luna could say anymore, she and Fleur jumped in shock to hear someone coughing rather harshly, so the girls went to investigate. Once they were back inside and followed the direction in which the coughing was coming from (in an empty classroom), Fleur and Luna gasped in shock to see Cedric down on his hands and knees (his shirt was untucked for some unknown reason). Even Cho was down on her hands and knees, coughing violently. Then she fell to the ground and began shaking and trembling as if she was getting cold.

"Luna, what's going with Cedric and Cho?" asked Fleur with concern.

"I don't know, Fleur," said Luna, equally concerned. "I have no idea what happened, but something tells me that it was bad. Cedric usually keeps his shirt tucked. My dad and I live close to him and his parents."

"Cedric, what happened?" asked Fleur.

"Something…" Cedric tried responding, unable to lift his head up.

He couldn't speak any more than he could because he felt another urge to cough and trying to take deep breaths made it worse. He even threw up, forcing the girls to back away from the stomach acid spreading out onto the stone floor. Cho was unable to speak because of how violently she was trembling, and she also started throwing up.

"I'd better get some help." said Luna.

"I'll keep an eye on Cedric and Cho." said Fleur.

Luna left the classroom to get a couple teachers at least. Luckily she crossed paths with Sirius, Remus, Andi, and Professor Flitwick. Luna informed the four teachers what all was happening and showed them over to the classroom where Fleur was still keeping a close watch over Cedric and Cho. A couple stretchers were conjured, then Cedric and Cho were escorted to the hospital wing, with Luna and Fleur following them. Once Cedric and Cho were on hospital beds, Madam Pomfrey came in and cast some diagnostic charms. It didn't take long before the strict nurse widened her eyes in sheer horror once the results came up.

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Madam Pomfrey.

"What is it, Poppy?" asked Professor Flitwick.

"Mr. Diggory and Miss Chang were experiencing an overdose of several potions in their system," Madam Pomfrey informed the four teachers, Luna and Fleur. "They were both drugged with hate potions keyed to Lord Potter. Miss Chang was also drugged with loyalty potions keyed to Miss Edgecombe and Amortentia keyed to Mr. Zacharias Smith. Mr. Diggory was also drugged with Amortentia keyed to Miss Edgecombe and loyalty potions keyed to Miss Weasley."

"Will they be alright?" Luna and Fleur asked simultaneously, concern in their voices.

"Yeah, I believe they will be," assured Madam Pomfrey. "But they'll stay here for the next day or two, possibly three, just to be safe. They'll need to be given flushing potions, so the other potions can be flushed out of their systems."

"Miss Edgecombe and Miss Weasley both having drugged Miss Chang and Mr. Diggory was a nasty shock," said Professor Flitwick in bewilderment. "So Mr. Diggory and Miss Chang must've genuinely been on Lord Potter's side all along."

"Marietta likely drugged the rest of Cho's friends with loyalty potions keyed to her," Luna informed her head of house. "Anytime Cho and her friends tormented me, their movements were all automatic-like, similar to robots from the muggle world and how they move. They also spoke in monotone voices at the same time. Marietta was the only one who genuinely enjoyed antagonizing me in any way."

"You never told me any of this before, Miss Lovegood," Professor Flitwick told her in a shocked voice. "Why didn't you do so?!"

"Well, I didn't want to be seen as a tattle-tale, professor," said Luna sheepishly. "Not only that, but I didn't think of them being under the influence of potions at first and there wasn't any proof I could find. Not until Harry asked me the other day, then he and Tracey informed me of how they overheard some of the students, including Marietta, planning on using a number of potions."

"In this case, it wouldn't be tattling, Miss Lovegood," stated Professor Flitwick. "The overdose could've killed Miss Chang and Mr. Diggory. If you and Miss Delacour hadn't come across them and alerted us, who knows how long it would've kept on going."

"First chance we get," Fleur told Luna. "We'd better tell Harry about all this."

"Fifty points to Ravenclaw for bringing this to our attention and for helping Miss Chang and Mr. Diggory out." Professor Flitwick told Luna.

Madam Pomfrey began ordering everyone out of the hospital wing, so Cedric and Cho could get some rest and be given flushing potions. By that time, dinnertime was already five minutes away. Everyone reported to the Great Hall, with Luna and Fleur spotting Harry and Neville sitting with Fred, George, Lee and Demelza at Gryffindor table at the end closest to the doors. Fleur and Luna took turns explaining to Harry and company about Cedric and Cho being drugged with potions.

"Cedric and Cho having been given hate potions keyed to me was even more unexpected," said Harry in shock. "Even more so with Cedric. How did Marietta give him love potions and how did Ginevra do the same to him, but with loyalty potions?"

"Maybe one of them has a house elf," Luna guessed. "And ordering it to help do their dirty work."

"Nott and/or Marietta's families more likely have house elves," said Demelza. "I've come across them bragging about having a house elf helping them and their dirty group of students' nasty work."

"It'll be a matter of time before they get arrested for their crimes," said Lee. "Since criminals are generally thin-brained."

"Unfortunately with the ministry going outta control because of that filthy toad, justified arrests won't happen," Fred and George spoke in their twin talk simultaneously. "Dad had been writing to us and alerting us to all that. It's only a matter of time before he faces the moment of getting unjustly arrested, since we are declared as blood traitors by those pure-blood supremacists and dad enjoys his position as head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office."

"Harry, where are Tracey and Tori?" asked Fleur in confusion. "Usually they join you and Neville at mealtimes."

"Having some girl time with Daphne," said Harry and Neville in unison. "They needed it."

"I see Blaise sitting with Adrian and Terence," said Luna as she looked over at the Slytherin table. "I'd better let him know what happened."

Luna got up and walked over to the Slytherin table to join Blaise. Dinner progressed uneventfully and then Harry and Neville approached Susan and Terence and asked them to follow the two Gryffindors into an empty classroom, as everyone else returned to either their common rooms, the Beauxbatons carriage, or the Durmstrang ship.

"Any news of your aunt's whereabouts, Susan?" asked Harry.

"No!" said Susan, trying to hide the distraughtness in her voice. "She always writes back when she gets the time, and it's so unusual that she still doesn't respond."

"Do you and your aunt own a house elf?" asked Harry. "If you do, you ought to call for him or her."

"Thank you for the help, Harry!" said Susan gratefully. Then she called out. "Trixie!"

"Did young mistress calls for Trixie?" asked the Bones family house elf (identified by wearing the House Bones crest on her shirt), as soon as she appeared with a pop.

"Yes, did auntie ever return home?" Susan asked her family house elf.

"No, young mistress," Trixie informed Susan. "It's been all lonely for Trixie for the past fives weeks or so. Even Trixie haves been wondering wheres mistress is and why she hasn't returns home."

"I have an idea!" said Harry. Then he called out. "Oreo! Piper!"

"Did Harry Potter calls for us!" Oreo and Piper asked Harry in unison, once they appeared with a pop.

"Yes, could you help Trixie in locating Amelia?" Harry asked Oreo and Piper urgently. "Susan hasn't heard from her aunt for weeks and we all fear that something happened to her. We also fear she may have been kidnapped or something."

"Yes, we cans do thats for Trixie!" assured Oreo and Piper at the same time.

The three house elves apparated away to search for Amelia. Susan began feeling her body relaxing a little, but still feared that her aunt was in terrible danger. Then she and Terence left the classroom, so he could escort Susan back to the Hufflepuff common room. Harry and Neville began returning to their private quarters to pass the time before dinner, with Harry planning to use that time to work on the clue of the golden egg (with Tracey helping him out).

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: I'd like to give a shoutout to the anonymous user 'Heavy' for suggesting that the howlers anger Umbridge to the point of sending dementors after the wizarding citizens who sent the howlers, only to discover that there were too many to get any clear addresses for, especially with so many ashes and some of the howlers being left unopened for too long to the point of exploding, and causing chain reaction explosions from other howlers.**


	26. Chapter 26

_Disclaimer: As I've normally mentioned, I just own this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns the rest, no copyright intended!_

**Chapter 26: Figuring Out The Clues**

Harry and Neville returned to their private quarters. Once he was inside the bathroom that had something like a pool-sized bathtub, Harry changed into his swim shorts before calling Winky and asking to find Tracey and see if she wanted to spend some time with him. Winky apparated away and returned with Tracey a minute or so later. While Tracey went to change into her swimsuit, Harry picked up the golden egg and walked into the tub with it. Once Tracey exited the changing room, she was in a sky-blue bikini. Harry widened his eyes in awe as soon as he got a good look. This was the first time he saw her in a swimsuit and she had nice-looking legs. Even her tummy was looking good, to the point where Harry felt his heart beating. He quickly came to his senses and walked further into the tub to sit down, with Tracey sitting down next to him.

"This must've been the first time you've seen a lady in a swimsuit, Harry," said Tracey with a smirk on her face, in an amused voice. "That look on your face had to indicate it."

"Uh, y-y-yeaahhhhhh!" Harry responded nervously, his heart still beating in such a manner. "H-H-How w-was I s-supposed to react?"

"There's a first time for everything, Harry," said Tracey with a giggle. "Plus, I knew you snapped out of it quickly."

"Y-You have a p-p-point." said Harry nervously, in a matter-of-fact voice.

He opened the egg and the wailing immediately filled the room, until Harry accidentally put it underwater. That was when the wailing stopped, which resulted in Harry and Tracey giving each other eye contact in a manner that was saying 'now we're getting somewhere.' Then they dunked underwater to figure out the clue and instead of hearing the wailing, Harry and Tracey some singing. It began going like:

_"Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground,_

_And while you're searching ponder this;_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And recover what we took,_

_But past an hour, the prospect's black,_

_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."_

Harry and Tracey had to listen to it at least six more times to memorize the clue (twice they had to push their heads above the water's surface for air before going back to memorizing the clue). Tracey got out to write down the clue on some parchment while Harry closed the egg back up and put it beside the tub. Then Tracey returned to the tub and began having a playful splash war while thinking over what the clue could possibly mean. After they were satisfied with their fun, Harry and Tracey got out of the pool-sized tub (the water started draining as soon as the teens began drying off with towels). After changing back into their everyday wear, Harry and Tracey shared a passionate kiss on the lips. It didn't take very long for the teens to widen their eyes in horror when they figured out what the clue possibly meant.

"Did that clue mean that what the champions will sorely miss will be taken from them?!" asked Harry, trying to keep his distraught voice in check.

"I'm afraid so, Harry," stated Tracey uneasily. "But I think it'll be someone who the champions will sorely miss."

"Well, shite!" Harry exclaimed. "That means the night… before the second task… you'll be my hostage and I have… to recover you?"

"Yes," stated Tracey. "The merpeople in the Black Lake will be guarding the hostages for the champions."

"And now for me to figure out how to stay underwater for an hour without worrying about drowning." said Harry.

"Well, the bubble-head charm is one way," Tracey filled Harry in. "But it's a spell one learns in their sixth year. There's also gillyweed, which you have to eat and you develop gills and webbed hands and feet for an hour."

"The gillyweed could be my best bet," said Harry. "But I should practice with it and the tub is the excellent place to practice swimming."

"Gillyweed is awfully expensive, Harry," stated Tracey. "So purchasing a case of it would be anywhere between seventy-five to one-hundred thousand galleons."

"Can house-elves get money from their masters' vaults at Gringotts?" asked Harry.

"Yes, they can get the necessary amount of money requested," stated Tracey. "They can even deliver money to shops for their masters or mistresses."

"Maybe tomorrow after classes end for the day, I can get one of my house-elves to withdraw some money from my family vault and take it to one of the apothecaries," said Harry. "Once I get the gillyweed, I can start practicing swimming after eating one. If you wish, you can help me prepare for the second task."

"I'm up for that," assured Tracey. "After all, it'll give us some more quality time to spend together."

"Uh, yeah," said Harry, trying to keep his body relaxed. "Maybe you ought to stay here for a while, just so we won't have to overwork Winky."

"After practice sessions," Tracey suggested. "We can cuddle on a couch and watch movies as a way rewarding you for excellent progress."

"That'd be something, Trace!" said Harry, intrigued by the idea. Then he continued on. "Maybe I shall confront Dumbledore after classes end tomorrow and see if I can convince him to spare you from being taken down into the depths of the Black Lake."

"It's possible, but it seems unlikely to work," said Tracey in a tense voice. "Dumbledore and the other judges will go on an unrelenting search throughout the castle to find me and tell me to be your hostage for the task."

"That's why I want you to spend the next several nights here," stated Harry. "Until after the task is over at least. You'd better inform Daphne of that, so she doesn't worry about you and think something awful may have happened to you."

"I will tell her once I return to my bedroom in the Slytherin girls' dormitories," said Tracey. "Maybe another kiss before I leave will distract us from the task."

Immediately, Harry placed another passionate kiss on Tracey's lips and kept it going for five minutes. Then Harry called for Winky to escort Tracey back to her bedroom in Slytherin territory before he started getting ready for bed. It didn't take long for Harry to fall asleep as soon as he climbed into bed.

/Scene break\

The next day after classes ended for the day, Harry called Dobby to take his school bag back to his makeshift quarters. Then the raven-haired teen began marching towards the headmaster's office in a fierce manner. It didn't take very long for Harry to reach the phoenix statue leading up to Dumbledore's office.

"Lemon drop!" Harry gave the password, but the statue remained in place. "Hmmm?! Okay, how about sherbert lemon?"

Again, the statue didn't move. Maybe the headmaster anticipated Harry's moves somehow and decided to change the password to spite him into making him give in to the Greater Good. After thinking it over for a minute, Harry deduced that the password was some kind of muggle sweet, but had no idea which one.

"Dumbledore's passwords are too predictable." Harry muttered to himself. Then he gave the statue another name of a muggle sweet. "Reese's Pieces?"

Once again, the statue stayed in place. Harry gave it a fourth muggle sweet name. "Milky Way?"

Yet again, the statue didn't move upward and allow the stairs to rise. Then Harry gave the statue one more name of a muggle sweet. "Snickers?"

Finally, the statue began moving upwards, much to Harry's amusement (since he began snickering at how easy the password guessing was despite it taking several tries). Once the stairs stopped moving upward, Harry began climbing the stairs. As soon as he approached the door, Harry raised a hand to knock, which was always futile because Dumbledore always seemed to know when he had visitors because the door automatically opened. The headmaster was sitting on his chair behind his desk while drumming the tips of his fingers on the desktop. He even had a smug grin on his face.

"Harry, my boy! I've been expecting you to come back here sooner or later." Albus greeted Harry, then he held a bowl of lemon drops out at him and offered. "Lemon drop?"

"No thank you, professor." Harry politely declined. Then he began explaining his reason for his visit. "I just found out last night that the second task takes place in the Black Lake and the champions have to rescue their hostage who's deemed someone they'll sorely miss."

"That is correct, Harry," said Professor Dumbledore calmly. "The champions' hostages will be required to report here after dinner the evening before the second task."

"I can't let Tracey be my hostage," said Harry firmly. "Something awful always happens anytime I'm involved."

"No need to worry about that, Harry," Dumbledore claimed. "I have someone else in mind to be your hostage."

"Who would that be?" asked Harry.

"It's a surprise, Harry," said Professor Dumbledore. "Surprises can make the fun more fun. If you know who your hostage will be, the experience won't be as fun."

"Well, okay," said Harry, shrugging his shoulders. "As long as my hostage is someone who I trust."

"It will be," Albus claimed. "As long as you don't worry about the task, everything will be under control."

Harry was somewhat unconvinced, knowing how predictable the headmaster was bound to be. Nevertheless, he turned around and left to go find Neville, Tracey and Tori. What Harry didn't know was that as soon as he turned his back on the headmaster, a smirk began forming on Dumbledore's face. While trying to find Neville, Tracey and Tori, Harry crossed paths with Terence and Susan in a corridor on the fifth floor. Harry informed them of his visit to the headmaster's office and how he told him he wouldn't allow Tracey to be his hostage for the second task, and how Dumbledore appeared to be fine with it.

"Perhaps Dumbledore has another one of those 'brilliant' schemes in mind," Susan deduced. "If he accepted your determination to keep Tracey out of harm's way."

"He probably does," stated Harry. "But there wasn't any evidence of him planning something else for the Greater Good."

"Who'll be your hostage for the task, Harry?" asked Terence.

"Dumbledore wouldn't say," said Harry. "Instead he mentioned how if I were to know, it wouldn't make the experience fun…"

"Harry Potter sir!" Oreo and Piper blurted out as they (and Trixie) appeared next to the three students.

"What is it?" Harry asked his house elves.

"We's found Milly Bones!" Oreo and Piper informed Harry, just as Trixie did for Susan.

"Where was auntie?" asked Susan.

"She was beens held tied ups," Trixie told Susan. "In somes kinds of room in the ministry. Four or five mores of them wizard fighters were there's too."

"Are they okay?" asked Susan.

"Yes, for the mosts parts," said Trixie. "But they appears to be too skinny like they haven'ts eaten much of anythings."

"Do help get auntie and the other captive aurors to the hospital wing, Trixie," Susan instructed Trixie. "Terence, Harry and I will head that way once we're finished here."

"You two should help Trixie out, too," Harry instructed Oreo and Piper. "It'll help get Amelia and the other captured aurors out of there as fast as possible. Umbitch won't see it coming and she'll be searching for them, which will cause her to delay her plans."

The house elves disappeared to get their task taken care of. Then Harry, Terence and Susan began making a beeline for the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey was in her office working on some paperwork when the three teens arrived. The nurse jumped in surprise to see Harry, Terence and Susan all out of breath. They took turns explaining to the nurse why they were there and how a few house elves were escorting Amelia and five more aurors to the hospital wing. So they went in and saw Amelia and the other captured aurors were in separate beds. Madam Pomfrey went to examine them with diagnostic charms and was relieved to see that they were just somewhat underweight and some minor injuries.

"Auntie!" Susan greeted her aunt in an emotional voice, as they embraced each other. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be okay, Susan," Amelia assured her niece. "Just a few nutrient potions will help, because I was only given leftover scraps for meals. The captured aurors and myself did manage to be given water."

"How did you get yourself captured, Amelia?" asked Madam Pomfrey.

"It was one day at lunch in the break room," Amelia explained to the nurse, Susan, Terence and Harry. "I was getting a cup of tea, with Dolores giving me a cup for me as she put it. I realized too late that it was spiked with a powerful sleeping draught and I drifted off into a dreamless sleep. The next thing I knew, I was tied up to a chair in some kind of expanded closet. I couldn't free myself because the rope had magic suppression spells on it and the knots also had charms placed to ensure I couldn't loosen them up in any way."

"Since that toad of a woman doesn't know you're here," Harry suggested to Amelia. "You and the other aurors who were held captive ought to stay here for a while, it may throw Umbridge off track. Dumbledore's guard may even be let down, since he admitted to me earlier what the second task involved."

Harry told the rightful head of the DMLE what all happened when he went to the headmaster's office and how he was keeping the identity of Harry's hostage a 'surprise.' Amelia raised an eyebrow suspiciously at Albus' plan, remembering when she last ripped the headmaster a new one. It wasn't long before Madam Pomfrey told Harry, Terence and Susan that the patients needed rest. Cedric and Cho were also still in the hospital wing and asleep (as it would've allowed the flushing potions an easier chance of succeeding if the patients were sleeping).

Harry returned to his makeshift quarters to get started on preparing for the second task. He called for Winky to find Tracey and ask if she was ready to spend the next week in his quarters, but to wait for her to inform Daphne first. It was a few minutes later when Winky came back with Tracey (who was holding a bottomless bag full of a weeks worth of a change of clothes under her left arm). Then Harry showed Tracey over to a guest room door, and she walked in to get changed into her bikini just as Harry headed for his room to change into his green swim shorts. Once that was done, she and Harry headed for the bathroom to get into the pool-sized tub.

"Dobby!" Harry called, once he and Tracey were in the tub.

"Did Harry Potter calls for Dobby?" asked Dobby as soon as he appeared by the tub with a pop.

"Yes, I did." said Harry. Then he started instructing the house elf. "Could you go to Gringotts for me and make a withdrawal from my family vault and take it to an apothecary for some gillyweed? A case of it will do it, since I need to practice using it for the second task."

"Yes sir, Harry Potter!" said Dobby dutifully. "Dobby will gets his task takens care of."

Dobby disappeared to get his errand taken care of. Moments later, he returned with a case of gillyweed. Harry stuffed one into his mouth and ate it (it was enough to make his face scrunch up because of the taste being very bitter). Once the gills and webbed feet and hands developed, Harry spent the next hour or so practicing his swimming with Tracey helping him prepare for the task. After they got enough practice for the night, Harry and Tracey went to change into pajamas before heading for a recreation room to get a movie to watch (with Dobby and Winky providing soda pop and popcorn) instead of going to the Great Hall for dinner. Then they made themselves comfortable as they started watching a comedy movie for some laughter.

Meanwhile in Azkaban near the top floor (where the maximum security prisoners were kept), Umbridge's minions impersonating the Azkaban guards were delivering meals to the prisoners. Dora was the last one to get her meal due to be unjustly sentenced to the dementor's kiss. No date for it was announced, making Dora breathe a sigh of relief inwardly (but she knew that word was bound to be spoken). As soon as she got her meal and the fake guards were out of sight, Dora used her metamorphmagus abilities to change into a bear to counteract the effects of being around the dementors (knowing that they couldn't tell if it was a real or a fake animal).

'They won't see this one coming!' thought Dora triumphantly.

Dora had no idea that Dolores found out that the captured aurors and Amelia were no longer in the room they were held prisoner. Two of the minions were in the minister's office and told Umbridge that the hostages were gone.

"Well, go find them and bring them back here!!" Umbridge growled in frustration.

The minions fearfully left the office to look for the captured aurors and Amelia (unaware that they were escorted to safety by house elves). With Amelia especially no longer in the secret room, Dolores realized that her further plans were going to have to be delayed until the rightful head of the DMLE was found and recaptured. She also had no idea that her plans were beginning to crumble, but slowly enough to where it was unnoticeable.

_To be continued!_

**Author's note: I'd like to give a shoutout to the user 'Kenn.Faith.Dawn' for suggesting that Harry and Tracey find out what the second task will bring, with Harry suggesting that Tracey stay out of sight in his quarters and cuddle with him to make sure Dumbledore and the judges will be unable to locate her after realizing she'd be taken as his hostage.**


End file.
